Tortured Shadows
by Nightcrawler's Shadow
Summary: AU: Different histories, create different futures. Kurtty. Full summary inside.
1. The Curse of Demons

Summary: AU: What if the X Men's past's had been different, they would have been joined together differently. What if Kurt hadn't been raised by loving parents past the age of seven, what if Kitty had grown up as a privileged young lady, whose every move was already planned out for her, what if she had never known real love or freedom, what if Scott's mother survived, along with Alex but his father died, what if Jean's mother and father died and she was left with an abusive aunt and uncle, what if Evan had grown up with Ororo in Africa, what if Logan had found Rogue before everyone else and raised her as his own, what if Xavier hadn't been able to create Cerebro as soon, what if everything...was different?

A/N: Welcome to my story! It's one of my first _ever_ XME fictions, so please be gentle.

A/N2: Jean and Scott are not my favourite characters, so there will be some bashing of them involved in the story, but for all you Jean and Scott lovers, don't worry, they won't be idiots the entire time.

A/N3: I love Kurt and Kitty but I _really_ love them together. This is going to be majorly Kurtty story. Expect a Kurt angst fest as well. There may be some Loro and Jott, but other ships have yet to be decided.

Chapter 1: The Curse of Demons

Disclaimer: I do not pretend to own the X Men.

"Mama!" a young Kurt Wagner screamed for his mother as ropes bound him tightly. Tears fell thick and fast from Anna Wagner's eyes as she watched her son, her only child, bound and beat like some kind of animal. She watched as blood started to mat the seven year old boy's cerulean fur, the fur his mother and father loved to brush and run their fingers through.

Arnold Wagner fell to the ground in anguish, no Kurt had not been conceived by Anna and him, but that didn't mean he was any less their son. "Papa!" Kurt cried again, but was cut off as one of the villagers, a large man by the name of Connor, stamped on the boy's tail. Kurt chocked in pain, sobbing loudly, _why were these people hurting him?_ "Kill the demon!" a voice rose up from the mob.

Kurt's hazel gaze shot up, _a demon? Was that what they thought he was?!_ "Nein, I'm not a demon. Please let me go!" he cried in his native tongue of German. "Burn the spawn of Satan!" and other voice rose up, causing the crowd to jeer. "No!" Anna cried her hazel eyes watched Kurt get bound to a large pole that rose up in the main square of town. "Please, not my baby! Not my son!" she cried, praying to the God they had always had faith in, the God they told Kurt to always trust, for he has a bigger plan for them all.

Conner sneered down at the woman, "You say he is your child? Listen everyone! This woman says that that demon is her child!" he laughed, "You poor woman, that thing has tricked you and bewitched you into believing that he is good, you poor, poor woman." He mocked sympathy. "Burn the creature!"He called to more shouts and cries.

Kurt sobbed, his chest burned from where the ropes bound him and he started a prayer, "Please God, please don't let this be my end, please don't let me die." Looking up, he saw anger and fear in everyone's eyes; except for in those of his parents.

His mother and father, they were crying, trying to get to him, and Kurt changed his prayer. "If this is my time, Lord, please take care of my parents, they are the best anyone could ask for." Kurt stopped struggling, his chin dropped to his chest, but the tears continued to fall.

The priest came up then, a lit torch held above his head, "Let this Holy fire cleanse the Earth of this demon, and may we forever earn a place in heaven for doing our God's bidding!" with that final word, the robed man threw the torch atop the logs of wood that surrounded the boy that was barely seven, and the flickering heat slowly licked closer to Kurt, he shivered and closed his eyes, "Please..." he whispered....

oOo

When Kurt awoke, he registered that he was laying on something cold and hard that smelled distinctly of earth and wood. Opening his eyes he was both relieved and scared to see it was night, but he had found out quite quickly when he was younger that he could see just as well at night, as he could during the day. Trying to sit up, he gasped as pain wracked his small body. Looking himself over, he saw he was covered in burns, cuts and other such injuries.

Taking a shuddering breath, he stood and was past relieved to find that nothing was broken, everything ached, but he was in one piece, and that one thought nearly made him burst into tears again as he hugged his tail to his chest.

Carefully climbing down from the boulder he had been laid on, he slowly traveled through the forest, following his nose back to town, he wouldn't enter, but he could blend well enough into the shadows that he could listen in to find out what had happened after he passed out. All he could remember was pain, and the sound of loud jeering, chants of "Demon! Demon!" rang over and over through his head like a song on loop.

Finally making his way to the village, he scaled the buildings and hid in the shadows of the rafters, listening as people spoke, apparently, he had been out for quite a few days. "Gone. Just packed up and left. Probably couldn't handle being in the place that they'd been tricked." A woman passed by, gabbing to her friend who was nodding along, "Probably, the poor dears, the Wagners were good people; it's too bad that demon chose to take them over."

Kurt could have sworn his heart stopped beating then and there. _Gone, his parents were...gone?_

Not wanting to believe it, the boy waited for the women to pass before leaping from the roof, doing an acrobatic flip in the air and landing in a catlike crouch on the ground. Looking around and seeing no one, he fell to all fours and ran that way up the dirt path that led to his home.

Jumping gracefully over the wooden fence, not even taking the time to reach the gate itself, he continued running until her came to the door, which he proceeded to open and enter through. What greeted him, stopped him cold, empty, the entire house was _empty;_ empty of life, empty of his parents. They were all..._gone_.

Kurt fell to his knees, hugging himself and sobbed loudly, wanting to wake from the nightmare, but nothing happened.

After his tears had abated some, Kurt stood and walked over to the stairs which he climbed to reach his room, it too was empty, but a note was nailed to the wall. Going over, Kurt pulled it down to find his father's scrawl taking over the page. Swallowing his tears, Kurt read the message:

_To all who enter here,_

_ You took away our son, you took away our light. Kurt was not a demon, he was a child, a child that you murdered! Leave now! You are not fit to enter upon his room, into his home. You disrespect him in this way, and you disrespect us. May you all burn in hell for taking an innocent life! _

_To Kurt, may you have found a home of peace where you can live without fear; we love you, son, never doubt that, may you find eternal happiness. We will be reunited one day. You will always be on our minds and in our hearts, our fantastic Nightcrawler._


	2. The Wolf and the Rogue

Chapter 2: The Wolf and the Rogue

Disclaimer: I do not own the X Men

A/N: Kurt is going to be older than Rogue in this story. Yes, I know that goes against the storyline of X Men: Evolution, but _that_ is why it's called an Alternate Universe.

oOo

Eight year old Anna Marie stumbled down the dark streets, arms hugging her as she shivered. Mommy and Daddy had started the yelling again, and she couldn't stand to be around that, especially when her Daddy started throwing things.

Usually, Marie was able to curl up in her closet, hidden from everyone, but that night was different. This time, her Mommy's cries had turned from angry, to pain filled. The sound of a gunshot had split the air causing a short scream to come from the child.

Silence had followed and Marie had gathered the courage to creep out of her closet and peek her two toned hair covered head into the living room. What she saw would haunt her for the rest of her life, her father was collapsed on the couch snoring drunkenly, but her mother, oh her mother; she had been on the floor, surrounded by a steadily increasing pool of her own blood.

The gun that had shot her was held limply in Marie's father's hand.

Chocking in a sob at the memory, Marie quickened her pace until she was running full out towards the park. Passing the jungle gym, the girl bolted down the path, tears blinding her until she ran into something hard. "Oof!" the winded girl blinked blearily up at the tall man she had run into.

The man was well built, strong jawed and had black hair and long side burns, but his dark brown eyes were what stood out most to the girl. They spoke of strength, and endurance, someone that wouldn't be bent by anything, someone that could be held on to when you needed something to keep you from falling.

At that point, those brown eyes were looking into her own bloodshot, emerald green ones with a look of curious empathy. The man seemed to be putting extra effort into not scaring the little girl that already looked like she had been through Hell and back.

"Hey," the man's voice was soft and he crouched down next to the girl. "You okay kid?" he reached out a gloved hand and stroked back her white bangs from her tear streaked face. Marie trembled as another sob racked her body and she shook her head, "Mah, mah Mommy, Ah, Ah think she's dead. And mah Daddy," she sobbed, but this time she shook in fear, "Mah Daddy was the one who killed her." She looked up at the man who was gazing at her with sympathy, his hand twitched like he wanted to pull her into an embrace, but he held back, not wanting to frighten her.

"Please don't make meh go back thahre." She quietly pleaded.

The man shook his head, "Don't worry, darlin' I won't." He settled a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her in what he hoped was a kind way, he didn't have much experience with kids, but he hoped introducing himself would be a good place to start. "My name's Logan, I also go by Wolverine. What's yours?"

Marie sniffed, but she smiled back at the man, for some reason she felt she could trust him, "Ah'm Anna Marie, but I go bah Marie." Logan smiled down at her; she really was a cute kid. "Marie huh? Well kiddo, do you have anyone I could take you to so you'd be safe?" he truly hoped so, he didn't like the idea of leaving the little girl in some orphanage. Marie shook her head sadly, "Uh uh, but anywhere's bettah than that place." She whispered; she too didn't like the idea of being left in an orphanage.

Logan bit his tongue, this kid was special, he could tell, he couldn't just leave her. "Kid, what would you say ta comin' with me?" he had no idea what he was doing, he had just met this kid, he had absolutely _no_ idea how to care for a child, not to mention he had no income, no way to care for her. But something was calling him to her, telling him this was the right thing to do. He was a man of instinct, and when that instinct demand he care for the young child, and when the Wolverine that lurked in the back of his mind also felt the connection to this girl, he was helpless and had to go with it.

Marie was his that much was clear. Marie's eyes lit up, "Ya mean it?" her tone was hopeful. Logan grinned down at her, "Yeah, but you have to be warned that I'm not rich, I won't be able ta spoil ya or nothin', but I promise to keep to safe. I'll take care of you."

Those last words sealed the deal and Marie's face nearly split with the brightness of her grin as she leapt into Logan's surprised arms, hugging him tightly around the neck. "Promise?" She smiled as she felt his arms tentatively wrap around her small form. "Yeah, yeah I promise kid."


	3. Princess and Sun

Chapter 3: Princess Katherine and the Sun of a Weather Goddess

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men.

Princess Katherine; that was what everyone called her. She, who had known nothing past the richly decorated halls of her family's mansion that, screamed of their wealth. Katherine Pryde who had what she wore chosen for her every day, and whose entire day was planned out in such a way, that she didn't even have time to contemplate the unfairness of it all.

Katherine Pryde, who would rather be called Kitty, was nothing but a pawn to increase her family's wealth by marrying a rich man.

Katherine stared out her bedroom window, her fingers mechanically playing her favourite piece on the ebony and ivory keys of her piano. Their rich melody helped sooth her in ways that nothing else could.

The brunette girl twirled her hair around her finger after she had finished her piece, wondering what it was like to do something different every day, to not have to wake at six, eat breakfast at seven, go to her classes all morning, then to Lunch at noon, returning to classes at one, then dinner at six, bed at eight. No time to herself, always was she with an instructor or her parents. She wasn't even allowed to have friends she wasn't allowed to do things for herself. The ten year old sighed, _would she ever be free?_

oOo

Evan crawled up the tree, skilfully finding the perfect places to place his hands and feet. Looking down, he spied his Aunt, a beautiful white haired, chocolate skinned woman, wearing traditional African garb, just as he did. His beloved Aunt Ororo was deep in meditation as she sat beneath the tree and across from the river that rushed by their village.

Evan simply watched his Aunt, even if he was thirteen; she was his favourite person in the whole world. She had raised him after his mother had died giving birth to his stillborn sister and his father had become negligent soon after. She had whisked him away to the vast meadows and plains of Africa, and he had called them home ever since.

"Come down from there, child, before you hurt yourself." Evan grinned and slowly made his way back down the tree to sit next to his Aunt. Ororo opened her eyes to smile at her nephew, "How are you today Evan?" he grinned at her, "Same as always, Aunty O." Ororo smiled, "Don't tell me you have grown bored of the African savannah young Sun." She always called him her Sun, she said it was because even on the darkest of nights and the coldest and barest of days, he lit her way and brightened her soul.

Evan chuckled, "Well, you know me, I'm just wondering what else is out there." Ororo smiled, "I know." She wrapped an arm around his lean shoulders, "And one day you will see something besides a leaping gazelle, we both will. I do not believe this is the life that was meant for us, it will change one day, just wait." As always, Evan trusted his Aunt completely, "If you say so." He grinned up at her in response to her bright smile. Things _would_ change…one day.


	4. Parents Lost

Chapter 4: Parents Lost

Disclaimer: I only own the story.

Scott Summers clung to his father like a lifeline, but the larger man pushed his child away, tears streaming down his cheeks as he strapped his oldest child into a parachute.

"Take care of your brother and Mom, can you do that for me Scott?" the man asked thickly. Scott nodded, "Yeah, I promise Daddy, I love you." "I love you too, son." Giving his last goodbyes, Scott's father pushed him out of the plane after his wife and younger son.

As the three most important things in his life, plummeted to the ground he called out just before the plane exploded, taking his life. "I LOVE YOU!"

Scott felt the air rush past him, his ears popping at the quick decent. "Pull your chute!" he heard his mother's voice. Turning his head to the side he reached out, and opened his stunned brother's chute. He followed suit and soon, the three of them were floating down.

Scott, Alex and Jane Summers heard Luke's last yell and tears fell from all their eyes as the plane exploded.

Scott, who was the highest of the three of them, was caught in the blast and his parachute was torn as he fell to the ground, becoming unconscious before he hit.

The next time he woke up, it was to find his mother sobbing at his hospital bedside, Alex asleep on her lap. "Mommy?" his voice was raspy, but Jane heard him. With a cry that woke Alex, she wrapped the two boys into her arms, thanking God again and again for saving them, but crying at the same time for the loss of her husband.

Scott clung to what remained of his family. His father's words ringing in his ears; _take care of them._

oOo

Young Jean Grey cried softly as the caskets that held her parents were lowered into the earth. She sobbed into her hands as they were covered and allowed herself to be lead by her Uncle`s rough hand on her shoulder to the car that would take her to her new home.

Only a few months passed before young Jean had found herself in Hell. Her Uncle beat her, her Aunt screamed obscenities that no child should hear, and then, of course, there was the fact that they did everything short of raping and killing her. Jean was in Hell, she was called a freak and not one person on Earth seemed to care for her. She needed a guardian, someone who could protect her, but she had no friends. How could a little girl find someone to love her, when it seemed like no one even _wanted_ her?


	5. Completed

Chapter 5: Completed

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men, they belong to Marvel.

Done. Finally, after years of painstaking work, it was finished. Cerebro, the machine that would help Charles Xavier find other mutants that needed help, that he could nurture and care for. He had nothing but pure intentions, find mutants who needed help, give it to them, if they wanted to remain and help him with other mutants that came through the doors of his mansion, they were welcome to. Of course, if they wished to go out and live their lives on their own, he would not hinder them. He was only the rain that would help the seeds grow.

Slipping the helmet of Cerebro over his head, Charles closed his eyes and began his search. Humans were abundant, the X-gene had yet to appear regularly, but there they were some mutants near, ironically only a few hours away by jet. What appeared to be a girl of the age of thirteen, and a man of indistinct age. He would go to them first, explain who he was and what he was trying to do. Perhaps they would the first to come, but only time would tell.

oOo

Marie Logan allowed a shiver to wrack her body, but it was one of excitement, the kind only a good book can give you. And that was what Bram Stoker`s _Dracula_ was, a good book. Marie held her breath and continued to be entranced by the words when she was shocked from her reverie by the ringing of the doorbell.

Marie jumped at the unexpected sound. That was strange; she and her father never got visitors. "Dad, someone's at tha door!" she didn't have to yell of course, she knew better than anyone about her adoptive father's enhanced senses. She also knew about his healing abilities and about the metal claws that were housed in his knuckles.

Logan's heavy foot falls came up the stairs and the imposing man came into the room. Five years hadn't changed him at all; he still looked like the gruff man that Marie had run into on her mad dash through the park all those years ago, but now there was almost a soft glint to his eyes, a near constant shine that had been brought out from raising a daughter.

Logan seemed just as confused as Marie as he opened the door to reveal an older man, sitting in a wheelchair. "Hello, my name is Charles Xavier, may I come in?" he seemed polite enough, but Logan wasn't all that trusting, he also didn't want to let the harmless old man image affect the way he protected his kid. Xavier smiled slightly, "I promise I mean no harm to you or your daughter." Logan's eyebrow's disappeared in his hair line, but he stood aside to let the strange man in, closing the door quickly and leading the man silently to the living room, giving Marie a silent message to join him on the couch.

"What can I help you with bub?" Logan sat next to his daughter, giving off waves of protectiveness. Charles smiled, "I truly meant what I said Logan, I mean no harm. I actually want to extend an offer to you and Marie." Father and daughter looked shocked that he knew their names, but Logan shook himself quite quickly. "Alright, first things first, how do ya know our names and what kind of offer?" he growled out.

Charles smiled mysteriously, "Don't think you two are the only one with gifts."

He proceeded to tell them of his own abilities, of his dream and his institute, and of Cerebro. It was actually Marie who brought it up, wanting to know how he found them.

In the end, the two were left in a state of shock. Logan shook his head, as if he were trying to jog a memory. Charles too, was trying to find why this feral like man was nudging a long forgotten memory. "Logan," Wolverine looked up, "Is it possible for us to have met, at one point?" Logan shook his head, not in a negative way, but as if he was trying to rid his mind of excess thoughts. "I don't know. Possibly, I've been around a while." Charles chuckled, "Yes, I know. Your healing ability is amazing."

He turned his attention to Marie, "And you, the young rogue, I have little doubt that I would be able to help you control your abilities." Those words captivated Marie and she looked up at her father. Logan was looking at Charles, trying to catch a hint of a bluff, but there was no such thing.

Logan let a rare grin touch his lips; the idea of his little girl actually being able to live a normal life without fear of hurting those she touched was enticing for the both of them. With a nod, Logan spoke, "We're in."


	6. New Beginnings

Chapter 6: New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places that you recognize.

Katherine Pryde was falling, and fast. The wind rushed by her as she fell, from what she didn't know, but she was screaming and then she hit hardwood. She opened her eyes to find herself in her father's study, which was directly beneath her bedroom.

This was the fifth time that week something like this had happened. She had told no one, but she was terrified. Clumsily she climbed the stairs and reached her bedroom, climbing back into bed shakily. She wanted someone to help her, but would anyone?

oOo

_Would anyone? Would anyone? Would anyone? Would anyone........_

Jeans eyes snapped open, "This is the place." She turned to her companions, her best friend Scott Summers, Marie Logan, who preferred to go by Rogue, and of course, then man who was like father to her, Professor Charles Xavier. The man had found her several years ago, taken her away from the awful place she reluctantly called home and brought her to the institute where she met Scott, a handsome young man who could emit blasts from his eyes, the burly man that was known as Logan or Wolverine (he certainly acted the part) and his adoptive daughter, young Anna Marie. A beautiful weather witch known as Ororo or Storm and her nephew Evan, or Spyke because of the spike's that he could create and shoot from his body, were also in the mix.

And now, the group was outside a beautiful mansion, hoping to help the young girl that went by the name of Katherine Pryde.

Jean knocked on the door with the ornate brass knocker and waited patiently. A man dressed in a suit opened the door, "Can I help you?" he asked in a condescending voice. "Yes," the Professor spoke up. "We are here to speak to Mister and Missus Pryde along with their daughter. I arranged a meeting last week, my name is Charles Xavier." The butler stepped aside and the small group walked in, they had all dressed properly. Charles in one of his best suits, Jean wore a bell sleeved purple shirt and a tan skirt that reached and flowed around her knees. Scott wore a white dress shirt, not tucked in of course, and some khaki suit pants while Rogue wore a long sleeved, emerald shirt, a pair of black gloves and a long black skirt, under which she wore a pair of dress boots.

Xavier led the way into a sitting room where they found the two adult Pryde's sitting, apparently waiting for them.

While his students seated themselves, Charles greeted the snobbish parents warmly, "Thank you for meeting with us. These are a few of my students." He pointed out each of them as he spoke their names, "This is Jean, Scott, and Marie." Mr. Pryde held out his hand stiffly to shake the Professor's, "I am Franklyn Pryde and this is my wife, Suzanne. Katherine should be joining us soon." No sooner had he spoken the words than Katherine walked in, wearing a long sleeved pink sweater and a bleached jean skirt that reached her knees.

Charles smiled warmly at the girl along with the others; even Rogue gave the girl a welcoming grin. "Hello Katherine. I'm Professor Charles Xavier." "Hello." She nodded her head.

Franklyn then spoke up, "So what is this about, exactly? You said this meeting was about Katherine; what about her?" Charles continued to smile calmly, "I'm here to offer Katherine a place at my Institute. It is a prestigious school, and we only accept students with certain qualities." Having read the man's thoughts, he decided to keep from mentioning anything about mutants, choosing instead to go with the plan of telling the parents it was a prep school, the only thing he was sure would even give them a slight chance of being able to help the young fifteen year old.

Both of the Prydes looked impressed as Jean handed them a few brochures that they had made in case this sort of thing came up. Franklyn grinned; this would probably be a good place for his daughter.

"I _am_ going to want to speak with Katherine privately; just to be sure she will fit in." Franklyn nodded and lead his wife out of the room without another word.

Charles looked over to where Katherine stood. "Please close the door Rogue." The Gothic girl stood and shut the large doors with a snap. "Have a seat Katherine, we wish to speak with you." Katherine walked shakily over to sit on the couch her parents had just vacated.

"Kitty..." Katherine's head shot up and Xavier smiled, "Yes, I know you prefer to be called that. Kitty, I know of your gifts, how you can walk through anything as if it weren't there. Kitty, I can read your mind, just like the rest of my students and teachers have gifts, you do too. I can help you control it." Rogue spoke up and stood as well walking over to sit next to the scared girl, "I was one of tha Professor's first students, meh and mah Dad. He's a good man; he can help ya, trust meh."

"Come with us, you won't be judged, you'll be taught, you'll be able to actually live." It was Jean who spoke up this time. "Do you really mean that?" Kitty questioned. "Yes, we really do." Scott spoke with a smile. "Then I'm in, thank you."


	7. Demon Thief

Chapter 7: Demon Thief

A/N: Finally! The first official Kurtty chapter. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X Men; this story belongs to me though.

The life of a thief was never easy and it was even harder for one who didn't want to be.

Kurt Wagner was now sixteen years old, nine years since he had nearly been burned at the stake and his parents had been lost to him, but it had only been five years since he had come into the ability of teleportation, or bamfing as he liked to call it.

Over the years, he had grown, and if it was at all possible, looked even more demon like. His once light hazel eyes were now a glowing gold and his once lighter cerulean fur was now a deep, black blue, the color of a night demon, or a Nightcrawler. He had taken up the name his parents used to call him, living his life on the streets, stealing food to survive on and living in an abandoned church in a town far from his childhood home, he had moved around a lot, always staying in churches, hoping to find some guidance in God. Even through all the years of pain he had endured, he remained faithful, as he had been taught.

A muffled 'bamf' announced his arrival in his "home", even if the old church was barely structurally sound. Kurt looked around the dark building, what he wouldn't give to be in an actual house, with people who loved him.

He hadn't been able to nick anything from the food stands that day, so he would be going to bed hungry, that wasn't an uncommon thing, but his metabolism was extremely high, meaning the lack of food was a _very_ bad idea.

Shrugging off the trench coat he used to hide his demonic appearance, he curled up under it on the bench in front of the altar; glad once again for the fur that covered him to keep him warm.

oOo

"_Do not be frightened by what you see, I do not believe this is an ordinary mutant we are dealing with."_

The Professor's words echoed in both Jean's and Kitty's heads as they climbed the crumbling stone steps up to the abandoned church. "This place gives me the creeps." Kitty shuddered, because they didn't want to scare off the mutant, they were wearing regular street clothes. Kitty in a pink hoodie, white t-shirt and faded jeans while Jean was in a pair of blue jeans and a light purple, long sleeved shirt underneath a gray jacket.

Jean nodded, "I agree, let's find this guy and get out of here." She looked up at the once regal building, the stone was crumbling and the roof was starting to cave in. "What kind of person would live in such a place?" she asked herself.

Jean pushed opened the old, rotting door and the two stepped in to find themselves in a very large, open room, the vaulted ceiling disappeared in the darkness, but they could see the slight outlines of the rafters far above them. The benches, some knocked over and all of them covered in a thick layer of dust, faced the altar, upon which sat nothing but an old sheet that must have been quite beautiful at one point.

"Hello?" Kitty called. The sound of movement made them turn their attention to the shadows in the far corner of the church. They moved over quickly, but slowed once they reached the edge of the shadows, not wanting to scare the mutant. "Hello?" Kitty called again, softer this time.

Jean looked into the shadows, trying to find the shape of someone. She identified a slightly hunched over figure, that seemed to be almost melting into the shadows. "We aren't here to hurt you." Jean spoke softly. "You say zat now, but you vouldn't if you could zee me." A male voice spoke up with a thick German accent. Kitty smiled. "Then let us see you." "Nein, you vould scream and vrun, zen I vould have to find a new place to live because zee villagers vould come up, yelling about how a demon vas living in zeir church."

Jean and Kitty exchanged glances before looking back at the shadows, "Alright, you don't have to come out, but you could at least tell us your name? I'm Jean Grey."

Kitty smiled and sat down cross legged. "And I'm Kitty, but I also go by Shadowcat." Unseen to the two girls, the teenage boy's ears perked up at hearing the alias name. "Mein name's Kurt Vagner… or Nightcrawler." Kitty seemed surprised that the boy already went by a different name but she didn't let that hinder her. "Kurt, we know you're a mutant, you have gifts, just like Jean and I. Watch." Kitty stood and proceeded to walk through a few of the pews before returning to her spot next to Jean.

They heard a sigh from the shadows, "I vill come out, but only if you _promise_ not to scream."

Kitty smiled and stood again, quickly followed by Jean. "We promise." The red head spoke for the two of them. Another sigh before they saw movement and a dark shape slowly cam towards them.

What Kitty saw, made her want to scream, but remembering her promise, she kept her mouth closed. A slightly hunched over figure came into view, with sharp facial features, glowing gold eyes, pointed ears and he was completely blue, covered from head to foot apparently in fur, he looked like a demon. The two also didn't hesitate to notice that the boy's legs were inhuman, and then of course there was the devil like tail. He looked at them nervously and that was when Kitty noticed how much the boy was shaking and how thin he was.

Kitty walked forward slowly, and Kurt stood straighter when he saw that the two girls weren't about to bolt. Shadowcat reached up and ran a hand over the fur that covered his cheek; Kurt tensed at the action, not having been touched in so long. Kitty's eyes held no fear, only empathy, "Were you born like this?" she questioned softly and Kurt nodded, "Ja, I've been like zis mein entire life." Kitty gave him a gentle smile. "Would you like to come with us? You could have an actual home, a home for people like us." Kurt looked over at Jean who was also smiling warmly if a bit nervously.

"Um, v-vhere iz zis place?"

Kitty smiled again, "It's in the United States."

Kurt thought for a minute, "Vould, I be kicked out because I don't look human?" he asked softly, so quietly in fact that Jean didn't hear him.

Kitty shook her head, "No you won't, I promise." Kurt nodded and Kitty smiled happily, gently taking his three fingered hand with her own five fingered one, she ran her thumb over the soft fur that covered it, she actually liked it, and the tail was cool too. "Come on, we have a jet outside, you won't even have to go into town." Kurt smiled gratefully, revealing his fangs, but was silently revelling in the feeling of being touched again, without fear.

oOo

Once they were in the air, Kitty started going through the clothes they had in the plane, finding a pair of trousers and a black t-shirt that looked about his size she handed them to him, after having cut a hole in the pants for his tail. "Here, I thought you might like some fresh clothes. When we get to the Institute no one will be there, so you can get cleaned up properly before you meet anyone. We can also get you come food." Kurt's tail flipped happily at the mention of food and he took the clothing from Kitty, walking into a small room that he could change in. He intended to throw out his old clothes when he reached this new place.

Coming out he found Kitty waiting, with a brush in hand. She steered him into a seat and pulled his shirt off. "Sorry, it's just, I think it'd be easier for you later if you got brushed first." The two were at the very back of the plane, keeping them from embarrassing scenarios, but that didn't stop the blush that lit up Kitty's pale cheeks as she gently started on her task, a task that had Kurt relaxing with every sweep of the brush.

Kitty also found herself relaxing, although Kurt looked like a demon, he had a very calming and friendly presence, one she enjoyed.

"Kurt?" "Mm?" he opened his eyes, which had closed as Kitty brushed him. "Why were you living in that place?" Kurt shuffled and looked away, thinking through his answer. "You don't have to tell me but-", she was cut off as Kurt started though. "Nein, eet's alvright." He took a deep breath, "My adoptive parents found me vhen I vas a baby. Zey raised me and loved me, despite my appearance, but vhen I vas seven, we vere split up, and I vas left to fend for myself."

Kitty stopped her brushing; she had reached Kurt's hair by that time and he was now velvety soft to the touch if still a bit dirty. Kitty ran her fingers through his blue hair. "I'm sorry Kurt." He smiled up at her. "Eet's alvright, Keety, but zank you for being ze first to care." She smiled, "You know," she sat next to him, not even flinching when his tail brushed up against her ankle. "When I first saw you, I was scared, but I remembered my promise. Now that I look at you, you aren't really scary. I actually am a big fan of the tail to be honest." She giggled and Kurt chuckled in response.

That was when the prankster in him decided to make itself known as Kurt lifted his tail, running the spade up and down her bare arm, tickling her. Kitty giggled and Kurt grinned goofily, he started tickling her mercilessly then, with both his tail and his fingers. Kitty squirmed, trying as hard as she could to get away from his dancing fingers, but she was at his mercy. "Alright, I give! I give! You rule all!" she laughed and Kurt finally released her. "Never doubt ze Fuzzy One." He stated pompously. Kitty giggled and took Kurt's hand as he pulled her back up to sit next to him. "Alright, I'll store that away for future reference."

oOo

Everyone else's reactions to Kurt varied, Logan liked the boy and Rogue trusted him, a rare thing for the both of them. Scott had been shocked by the boy's appearance, and was still a little wary of the boy, but the Professor welcomed him with open arms. Evan immediately felt a bond with the blue mutant, like Kitty he looked past the demon appearance and found the trickster and friend underneath. Ororo had been one of the first, along with Evan, to meet Kurt, and had practically chained him to the kitchen table to feed him a proper meal. The only reason she didn't was that the teenage boy was quite eager to eat anything put in front of him. Once he explained his high metabolism, this wasn't thought of as strange any longer.

As for Kurt, he quickly fell into mansion life quite comfortably, although the fact that he actually had people to care about him was still a slightly foreign concept.


	8. First Day of School

Chapter 8: First Day of School

Disclaimer: Me no own.

A/N: The characters are OOC in this chapter, especially Kurt.

A/N2: Hey people, I know you guys are reading, now if you could review that'd be great! Thanks. Let's shoot for at least fifteen kay?

A/N3: I don't think this is my best chapter ever. Oh well, let me know what you think!

oOo

Kitty pulled her pink t-shirt over her head, trying to keep her hands from shaking. It was their first day of school at Bayville High, as she was so nervous that she had to put on clothes that required as little buttons as possible.

Across the room, Rogue had already finished getting dressed in to her normal ensemble of a loose, sheer green top over a black tank top, followed by a black skirt, combat boots and black tights. Oh, and let's not forget the gloves that kept her from flooring everyone she touched.

Rogue was calm and collected, probably because she had gone to regular school before, it was different for Kitty. She had been home schooled her entire life, what if she screwed something up and ruined the rest of her life at school? That would be just perfect.

"Ah'm gonna head down for breakfast. Ya comin'?" Rogue looked over her shoulder. "No, you go ahead; I'll be down in a few." Rogue nodded and closed the door behind her.

Not five minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Kitty called, but she immediately regretted it as a boy she didn't recognize strolled in. He had pale skin, sort of a mix between hers and Rogue's, and dark cobalt blue eyes that were similar in color to Kurt's fur. He gave her a grin that was very familiar and she couldn't help but notice the dark blue color of his hair, in a style she knew very well, but still, his identity escaped her. "Uh, who are you?" the boy chuckled, "Vhat? You don't recognize me? I'm hurt Keety, truly."

Kitty's jaw dropped when she heard the familiar German accent, "Kurt?!" he nodded and pressed a button on his watch, his normal, blue and fuzzy appearance returned, "Vhat do you think? Prof. gave it to me, so I can go to school." She noticed the elf was practically bouncing with excitement, his gold eyes bright.

Suddenly, going to this school didn't seem so bad; after all, her best friend would be going too. Kitty smiled brightly as Kurt turned the image inducer back on. "Kurt, that's great." She ran and jumped on the boy, hugging him tightly. Even if Kurt had only been at the mansion a couple days short of three weeks, the two were already extremely close and it was hard to find one without finding the other.

"Come on, let's get to breakfast, I'm starved." Kitty wrapped an arm around his middle as his wrapped around her shoulders. "You're always hungry." After a few weeks of decent meals and a slowly building regime of exercise, he had already gotten more meat on his bones.

Kurt ported the two of them down to the kitchen, dropping them into their seats. No one so much as blinked, as this was a normal occurrence every morning. The two dug into their food and Kitty thought back to when she had first ported with Kurt, it had been…_interesting_, to say the least.

[Flashback]

Kitty jumped out of the way of one of Evan's stray spikes, "You alright Kitty?" "Yeah!" she yelled back, continuing to weave in and out of the robots they were training against. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as a flash of blue dove at one of the 'bots, tackling it to the ground.

Her jaw dropped as she watched Kurt, no Nightcrawler, dodge the attacks of the robots surrounding him, as far as she could tell, there wasn't a scratch on him.

He flipped and twisted in the air in inhuman ways that had her cringing. Unknown to her, a drone had been coming up behind her and had been about to attack her, possibly breaking more than a few bones when she felt Kurt's arms around her waist. A flash of red and black was all she saw before she realized she was no longer on the ground, but up on the ceiling. Kurt had one hand on the wall along with his feet, they were chest to chest and his other arm was securely around her waist, keeping her from slipping.

He looked over his shoulder before taking in her pale and shaky expression, "Are you alvright?" Kitty shook her head and closed her eyes, placing her head on Kurt's chest, trying to pretend she was on the ground. "I _really_ hate heights." She mumbled, trying to stop her head from spinning. She felt Kurt's arm tighten around her waist. "I von't let you fall." He stated seriously. Looking up, she saw nothing but truth in his eyes and slowly she nodded. "Okay."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Alvright, now this is going to be a leetle strange, but when you feel yourself slipping, wrap yours around my neck like you are now and hold tight." She nodded again, "I trust you." He smiled and suddenly there was that flash of black and red again.

Just as Kurt had warned her, she felt herself slipping, and…_was Kurt turning around?_ Either way, Kitty quickly locked her arms around Kurt's neck like she was instructed and closed her eyes. The sudden return of sound was what told her the teleporting was over. ~_I can't believe he does that every time he bamfs. ~_ She thought faintly.

She felt Kurt move beneath her and opening her eyes a crack she saw she had been right, he had turned and she was now on his back like he was giving her a piggyback. She closed her eyes again when she noticed they were upside down. She took a shaky breath, she trusted Kurt with her life, but this was _terrifying_!

She felt Nightcrawler's tail wrap around her waist, holding her more securely to him. "Hold tight, Katzchen." She tightened her hold, praying he wasn't about to do what she thought he was.

The rush of air around her proved her prayer to be futile. She kept her eyes clamped closed when she felt Kurt's muscles tighten, the loss of sound and the feeling of been squeezed through a tube for about five seconds were the tell tale signs of a bamf and when she opened her eyes, she was facing Kurt's chest again and they were on the ground.

She looked up to see he had a nervous grin on his face, but his eyes were concerned. "Are you alvright?" she nodded, "Uh huh. J-just a l-little shaky." Kurt hugged her and ran a hand up and down her back. "You preformed magnificently Katzchen." She took a steadying breath and nodded her head.

Shadowcat shivered again and she felt her knees buckle. Kurt caught her before she fell and lifted her into his arms, it was only then that she noticed they were outside the control room to the DR. Turning he sat her down on the ground, and crouched in front of her. "Keety, are you alvright?" Kurt was being very serious, which was extremely strange for him. "Yeah, why?" Her heart had calmed and the room was no longer spinning. "I've never 'ported vith somevone before." Kitty took a steadying breath. "Never?" he shook his head. "Should I take you to ze infirmary?" she shook her head, "No, I think I'm okay, but you know if you did that enough times with someone, you could probably knock them out." Kurt chuckled and picked her up. "Vant to give it anozer go?"

Kitty thought for a minute, Kurt had already proved that he was stronger than he looked, he was carrying her like she barely weighed anything and he could easily carry her up to her room, but did she want to try the porting thing again? She nodded her head, "Yeah, let's give it a try; it'll help me build up endurance for it so it won't affect me." Kurt grinned brightly. "Alvright, here eet goes." She felt his muscles tighten again and with the flash of color they were in her bedroom.

She looked up at Kurt and he gently set her on her bed, "I can't believe you do that every time." He laughed, "You'll get used to eet." She smiled happily.

[End Flashback]

Logan checked the clock that hung on the wall, "You kids should head ta school. It wouldn't be a very good idea to be late on yer first day." Scott pushed back from the table, as the oldest, and the only one with a license, he would be driving them. "Come on, if you miss, I'll have Kurt port back to get you." Kurt grinned evilly, everyone but Kitty _hated_ traveling by his teleportation. So that led to everyone else (excluding Kitty of course) paling dramatically, then there was the mad rush as everyone finished breakfast and grabbed their bags to get to the car.

Scott and Kurt exchanged grins, "That worked better than I thought it would. Good idea Kurt." The hologram covered mutant leaned back in his seat, "Vhat can I zay? I'm a genius."

Kitty playfully punched his shoulder as she stood. "Let's go Fuzzy." He chuckled and bamfed them away. Scott walked down more calmly, heading to the garage.

Entering the concrete room, Scott chuckled when he saw everyone had already piled into his car, a red and white convertible that was like Scott's baby. "Hey, don't scratch the paint!" he called before jumping into the driver's seat. Jean sat right next to him, with Evan beside her. Kurt had the middle in the back with Rogue and Kitty on either side.

As they drove down the roads of Bayville with the morning traffic, Scott looked to the back with the rear view mirror. "Hey Kurt?" "Ja?" Kurt came up from his conversation with Rogue, Kitty was watching the city go by, leaning against Kurt slightly. "Be sure, when you're at school, to not let anyone touch you, and keep your tail hidden." The brunette boys said in his 'leader voice'. Kurt rolled his eyes; his many years of living on the street had taught him how to hide himself, "Don't vorry Scott." He stated in a slightly annoyed tone, "I'm not stupid you know, I von't let anyone know vhat I really look like." Scott sighed, "Just be careful." Kurt rolled his eyes, "Sagt der Junge, der kann schießen lasers aus den Augen." (Says the boy who can shoot lasers from his eyes)He muttered.

Evan chuckled quietly, something told him what Kurt had just mumbled was fairly sarcastic. What could he say; the guy was coming to be like a brother and he knew him well.

Scott parked the car in the student parking lot next to the school. "Well, here we are, Bayville High School." The six teens looked up at the large building. Their thoughts varied:

For Kurt it was ~_Eh, I've stayed in larger churches, and some of them have partially collapsed. ~ _Needless to say, he wasn't completely impressed.

Kitty and Rogue were different ~_Oh God, what if I get lost, the only reason I don't get lost in the mansion is because I can walk through things! I can't do that here! ~ _Kitty paled. ~_Wonder what Dad'll say when Ah tell him what it's like. It's certainly bigger than the last school Ah went to though. ~_ Rogue was somewhere in the middle between impressed and bored.

Scott and Jean were both calm, not too worried about finding their ways around or anything like that, and Evan was practically vibrating in his seat, he was excited to finally being in a different place, it was invigorating.

Scott gave Jean a hand out and Kurt bent backwards, gripping the back of the seat with his cloaked hands and flipped out, right over the trunk of the car too. Kitty and Rogue both laughed at that but Scott rolled his eyes underneath his shades. ~_Show off. ~_ Evan went around and gave Rogue a hand out while Kurt picked up Kitty around her waist and lifted her up and out of the car. Kitty giggled, Kurt was being extra goofy that day to keep her mind off a new school. It was working so far.

Together the six walked up and in through the front doors, Evan and Kurt would be in the same class as Rogue and Kitty would be together and Jean and Scott were in the same grade as well. They split up after they had gotten their individual schedules, text books, and locker information, heading to different wings of the building.

Kitty and Rogue were both in ninth grade, both of them being fifteen but Kitty was by far the youngest of all of Xavier's charges. Evan and Kurt were both sixteen and in grade ten, they headed into their first class, Science, with Mr. McCoy as their teacher. Jean and Scott were both in eleventh grade, both seventeen and had History first thing. One of the jocks, a blonde boy by the name of Duncan, already had his eye on Jean, in a way that had Scott tense and slightly broody.

Kitty and Rogue entered their Math class, both dreading it, Kitty was good at math but hated it with a passion, while Rogue was bored to the extreme at the mere thought of putting numbers together in different ways, it just wasn't her style. She'd rather have been in Creative Writing; at least she had that class after Lunch.

oOo

The morning passed by without any glitches for any of them, but by Lunch, Kurt's nerves were shot. He was still a little freaked out by the fact people didn't scream and run when they saw him and he was just waiting for someone to see through the hologram that hid him.

Evan had noticed his friend's minor freak out, but couldn't think of a way to calm him. The two walked side by side down to Lunch, Evan keeping Kurt next to the lockers so the only person he might accidently brush against would be him. "Relax buddy, you're twitching." Kurt sighed, "Sorry, I'm just a leetle freaked out, ja know?" Evan nodded. "Relax, we'll get ya some food, sit ya next to Kit Kat and you'll be fine in a matter of seconds."

Kurt chuckled as they entered the bustling cafeteria. They each grabbed copious amounts of food and headed over to where they could see Rogue's dark form and Kitty's distinctive ponytail.

Just like Evan had prophesized, once Kurt had sat down next to Kitty, Evan taking the seat on his left, the fuzzy mutant calmed down considerably and was back to his normal, joking self. Scott sat silently across from the three, Rogue had her IPod in and was reading a Gothic novel her Dad had picked up for her; a grin had crossed her face when she saw Evan and Kurt, but Jean was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Jeannie, Scott?" Evan took a drink of milk from one of the many cartons he had in front of him, and both Kurt and Kitty looked around when they, too, realized that the red head wasn't sitting with them.

Scott scowled, "Over there." He pointed behind him to where the jocks and cheerleaders sat. Evan looked over the heads of the other students, none of which gave them a second look as the effect of the new students had petered off already. Jean's distinctive red hair was easily seen as she chatted away with Duncan, who reminded Kurt forcefully of Connor from his childhood.

"She's eating with the popular people?" Kitty looked confused while Kurt continued to stuff himself with food, not too worried about Jean, she could handle herself. Plus, he and Jean still weren't any more than acquaintances, the slightly, okay _really_, look obsessed girl still couldn't look past his demon appearance.

"Yeah, all she said was that Duncan wanted to introduce her to his friends and then she left." Scott glared at the wall behind his friends. Kurt polished off the last bit of food he had and took a drink of water. "If you vant my advice, Scott, I'd say you like her and you're jealous of Duncan because she is showing interest in him." Kurt stated calmly.

Rogue looked up, a shocked expression on her face, Evan and Kitty contemplated Kurt like they had never seen him before, while a brilliant red blush lit up Scott's cheeks that matched his ruby quartz sunglasses perfectly.

"Not true." He mumbled, but Kurt wouldn't be deterred and the boy that had had to grow up when he was seven suddenly shone through, in his entire devil like glory. "Oh vreally?" Kurt crossed his arms and smirked, leaning back. Scott looked up sharply, "Yes really. Now leave it alone."

Kurt continued to smirk, but kept his mouth closed, but this only annoyed Scott more. "Would you _stop_ that!?" Kurt grinned at Scott's expression; this was where his trickster persona came into play, in a slightly serious way. Scott was still denying that he had fallen for his friend; the idea was to trick him in saying that he liked Jean, and then his job would be done. "Stop vhat?" Kurt asked in an annoying calm voice.

"Stop acting like you know something everyone else doesn't!" the older boy snapped, but Kurt just shrugged. "Maybe I do zough." He grinned and rested his elbows on the table. Scott scowled, "Just admit eet, Scott, you like Jean, admit eet!" The ex thief grinned, if his tail hadn't been wrapped tightly around his waist it would have been waving back and forth behind him, revealing his enjoyment of the game he was playing. Scott glared at Kurt, "Shut up will you, Elf!" he hissed. A flash of pain went through Kurt's eyes, and it would have been seen if it weren't for the hologram.

Kurt shrugged again, "Just saying, eet's completely obvious. Bezides," He picked up his tray and finished his sentence as he walked out of the cafeteria, "you two are obviously meant to be together." With that, Kurt left, leaving his empty tray with the others, a smirk painted on his features.

Scott's jaw dropped as he looked after his younger friend. He looked back to find Kitty and Rogue glaring at him, "Ya'll are meant to be tahgether." Rogue muttered as she stood from the table angrily, "Ya both like hurtin' Kurt because of how he looks." The young girl followed after Kurt and Kitty left too, choosing not to say a word, instead she hit Scott upside the head with the back of her hand as she passed.

Scott rubbed his sore skull while Evan chuckled at their leader's plight. "What?!" Scott shifted his glare to Evan, still not believing the mess he was in was his own fault. Evan shrugged, "Nothing. Kurt's right though, and come to think of it, so is Rogue." Evan stood from the table, taking a last drink of milk as he left.

oOo

Kitty stuffed her books into her backpack, for the first day of school, it hadn't been so bad. She turned and was surprised to find of blue eyes barely a centimeter away from her. She gave a soft yelp causing Kurt to chuckle, "Hey Katzchen." He grinned, but even through the hologram, Kitty could see it was forced.

She smiled, "Hey Fuzzy." The two started walking side by side towards the front door and the parking lot. "So? How was your first day?" Kurt shrugged, "Not too bad." He grinned, and Kitty sighed. "You're a terrible liar, you do know that?" Kurt had the sense to look abashed, and Kitty was pretty sure he'd be blushing if not for the image inducer…and the fur. "You know me too vell." Kitty looped her arm around his, "Come on, what's bugging ya?" Kurt sighed, "Its vreally stupid, but I'm still a little upset by vhat Scott said at Lunch." He shook his head. "Vreally, its nozing, don't vorry." He grinned at her but Kitty frowned, sometimes she forgot how much Kurt had gone through since he was little, I mean, being separated from your parents was one thing; but having to live on the streets with everyone thinking you were a demon was completely different. This, she believed, lead to him forgetting that people actually cared about him; her in particular.

"Do you want to walk home?" she asked quietly. Kurt gave her a thankful look and nodded. The two strode over to where Evan was waiting by Scott's car. He gave them a look when they tossed their bags in, but didn't get in themselves. "Taking the long way home?" Evan had really taken a liking to Kurt, he was his best mate and the fact that he looked so down concerned him.

Kitty smiled, "Just want to walk home today." Evan nodded and shooed them away, "Better get going then, knowing Scott and Jean they'll give you the fifteen minute lecture about how dangerous that is-" he was cut off as Rogue came up, "With a twenty minute side of 'what if you get seen' or 'I'm not letting you two go off on your own' blah, blah, blah." Evan grinned. "Very true." Kurt wrapped an arm around Kitty's shoulders. "In zat case, ve'll see you at ze mansion." Rogue and Evan nodded before getting into a discussion about music, which band was better, Nickelback or Nightwish?"

oOo

Kitty and Kurt made their way from the school quickly, ducking into the park to avoid Scott and Jean's attempts to find them. Jean, thankfully, was unable to read Kurt's thoughts, and Kitty had gotten good at blocking her own. They walked silently, but Kitty soon shattered the peacefulness, "You know, you're not on your own anymore. And you shouldn't have to put up with Scott being a jerk." Kurt nodded,  
"Ja, I know, eets just zat…sometimes, I forget zat I'm not on my own anymore. I vas on ze streets for so long, I find it strange zat I no longer have to hide, or scavenge for food."

Kitty looked up at her best friend; his expression was sad and far away. Kitty smiled softly and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him tightly; she could feel the texture of his fur through his clothes. Kurt tentatively returned her hug, carefully at first before she was crushed in his arms. The two mutants clung to each other tightly, taking comfort from the other.

Kurt kissed the top of Kitty's head, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms. When they pulled away from each other, Kurt grinned down at her. "Vhat do you say to beating zem home?" Kitty smiled wickedly, "I say…I call first dibs on the ice cream in freezer!" Kurt gave a full out laugh and brought Kitty to him again, porting them into the kitchen of the mansion. And just as Kitty had called, she grabbed the tub of cookie dough ice cream from the freezer and scooped up to large dishes of the dessert, passing one to Kurt and keeping the other for herself. "Bon appetite!" "Genießen!" (Enjoy!) Kurt replied.


	9. Don't Shoot the Messenger

Chapter 9: Don't Shoot the Messenger, but Feel Free To Yell

Disclaimer: If a man walks into a bar, he will get drunk, if you throw something off a building, it will fall. These are true. I own the X Men: that is _false._

A/N: Hello my wonderful readers, I give you yet another chapter! **I've decided I'll update every six or** **seven days, just so you know when to look. Any changes otherwise will be posted on my profile.** Onward with the story!

Jean and Scott bashing ahead, plus some harmless humor.

oOo

Scott scowled at the road; Jean glared out at the scenery that flashed by as Scott's car sped down the road, while Rogue and Evan smirked in the backseat. "I don't get why you're so upset Scott. I'm mean, Kurt and Kitty just decided to walk home instead of driving? Is that such a crime?" "Yes." Jean replied, throwing an annoyed glance over her shoulder.

"Why?" Rogue questioned as they came to a red light, "Because Kurt can't be trusted and Kitty doesn't have the people skills to realize that." Scott hissed as he clenched the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip. Rogue and Evan's jaws dropped and the car lurched forward when the light turned green.

The two younger mutants remained silent for the rest of the drive, quietly fuming. Evan was so close to trashing Scott's cars with spikes that he was worried he'd hurt Rogue if he lost control for only a second. He whispered so in her ear and they shuffled to opposite sides of the backseat.

As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the mansion, Rogue and Evan grabbed their bags along with Kurt and Kitty's. As they leapt out of the car, Evan released a small, toothpick sized spike and ran the sharp tip along the side of Scott's car, leaving a long, thin scratch.

Rogue gritted her teeth and stormed through the seemingly empty mansion to the kitchen to find Kurt, without his image inducer on, and Kitty already there and chatting over bowls of ice cream. Evan came in behind her and closed the door, nodding at Rogue. The white and brown haired girl took in a breath and Evan quickly maneuvered himself behind Kurt to cover the blue mutant's pointed ears. After all, what was about to happen would be loud for people with normal hearing, for someone with extremely acute hearing, this would be nails on a chalkboard.

Rogue took in a breath, "I HATE THEM!" she shrieked at the top of her voice along with a fair few expletives, causing her friends to wince.

Kurt reached up and removed Evan's hands from over his ears, giving the boy a grateful look. Standing he put an arm around Rogue' shoulders. "Hate who schwester?" (Sister) Rogue scowled, but leaned into the older boy's embrace, he had a strange habit of calling her sister, and she wasn't about to abuse the privilege that came with that, aka the ability to take comfort from the furry mutant. "Red and One-Eye." She snarled, in an almost perfect imitation of her father.

Kitty sighed, "What'd the dynamic duo do _this_ time?" Kitty asked as Evan nicked the ice cream from the freezer, scooping some into bowls for him and Rogue.

"Oh, ya'll know the usual. Just being asses, saying that Kitty doesn't have the people skills to make her own choices and Kurt shouldn't be trusted because of what he looks like and how he grew up. Basically they were saying that Kurt's a demon and Kitty is a stupid little girl that doesn't know _anything_!" Kurt's hand gripped her shoulder tightly and a low growl permeated the room.

Rogue, Evan and Kitty looked up in surprise to see Kurt's golden eyes flashing dangerously as he looked towards the kitchen door, the growl had come from him and his entire form was tense. Kurt didn't get angry easily, he was usually very collected and an eternal optimist, but when he got angry…they all wanted to run and hide.

He released Rogue from his hold and stormed out the open door.

The three left in the kitchen exchanged looks before abandoning their food and bounding after their furious friend. They found Kurt stalking down the halls, making a straight line for Jean and Scott. His fangs were bared as he growled and the expression on his face was terrifying.

As one, the three ran and tackled Kurt, and in a split second reaction, he teleported all three of them.

They reappeared on the back lawn, Rogue, Evan and Kitty gasping for breath at the sudden teleportation. "Let…meh be…tha first ta ask…" Rogue panted, "What the hell was that?" she gasped out. Kurt looked at them guiltily, all signs of his anger gone. "Sorry." He looked down like a kicked puppy, even his ears drooped. "I'm sorry I let mein anger control my actions. And I'm _vreally_ sorry I took all three of you at vonce, I vreally didn't mean to."

Kitty, who had recovered the fastest as she was used to Kurt's porting, spoke up, "We know you didn't besides, this just proves that Jean and Scott were wrong. You were angry because they didn't just insult you, but me as well." Kurt looked shocked before grinning, "You know me _vay_ too vell Katzchen."

Kitty grinned and Kurt pulled her up with one hand, he grabbed Rogue with the other, and wrapped his tail around Evan's wrist. They disappeared in a cloud of black smoke before reappearing in the kitchen, because it hadn't just been a split second thing this time, Rogue and Evan weren't as winded.

Rogue grinned, while Evan dished even _more_ ice cream into their bowls. "Okay, enough touchy feely crap for todah, let's eat our weight in ice cream!" Kurt and Kitty laughed, but grabbed their bowls, that Evan had refilled, and dug in.

oOo

The next day went by in a much different way; for one, Kurt revealed that he could, indeed, drive and, ahem, _borrowed_, one of the many cars that were in the garage. The drive to school was much more enjoyable for all involved. Kitty had always hated sitting in the back and sat up front with Kurt, while Rogue and Evan enjoyed the extra room they had in the back.

They parked on the opposite side of the school than Scott, mainly because they wanted to avoid the two, but also because it was closer to their wings of the school. Evan and Rogue jumped out of the backseat when they reached their destination, but the four hadn't gotten ten steps into the school before a tall brunette boy bumped into Evan, causing him to sprawl against the hard, white flooring.

"Watch where your goin'!" the boy snarled out, while smirking grandly. Kitty and Kurt each grabbed one of Evan's arms to pull him up, while Rogue glared in the guy's direction. "Who was that anyway?" Kitty questioned. "Don't know." Evan rubbed his sore jaw, "But I already don't like him!" "C'mon, ve don't vant to be late for chemistry." Kurt pulled Evan after him, waving to the girls.

oOo

It was revealed later that the brown haired boy was named Lance Alvers, and he was one of the new students the school had just received. The other new students were Todd Tolansky, Fred Dukes, and Pietro Maximoff. They all appeared to be living in the Brotherhood Boarding House near downtown Bayville. While physically, all the boys had absolutely _nothing_ in common, Lance the bad-boy extraordinaire, Fred, large didn't even begin to describe him, Pietro the tall, lanky boy who seemed to be ladies man and a speedy talker with his slicked back, white hair, and Todd, who smelt like he'd never learned of the glorious invention that was soap. Especially to Kurt, when the short, greasy boy walked by the German, he had to be held up by Evan as he swooned, nauseated by the stench.

The one thing they did have in common was that Rogue, Kurt, Kitty and Evan all hated them.

Currently, Evan and Kurt were in Science, Evan staring out the window and wishing to be on his skateboard, while Kurt was struggling to keep down his lunch. Science was one of his favourite subjects, but when Todd was only a few seats in front of him, his heightened senses were causing him anguish.

"Does he ever take a bath?" Kurt hissed to Evan where he sat beside him. "Doubt it." The boy replied quietly. Kurt swallowed again, and focused on breathing through his mouth only, he wished Storm had caused a nice cool breeze for them this morning, instead they had to endure the natural, stifling heat that was causing all the scents around him to be much heavier and concentrated, lucky him.

The bell rang, and Kurt was the first out of the room, trying to calm his flipping stomach, the boy smelt like a mix between old gym socks, a landfill and fish guts, not pleasant. _~Thank God it's the end of the day; I don't know how much longer I would have lasted. ~_

Kurt threw his books in his locker, no homework for the weekend! He carefully weaved his way through his fellow students until he found himself at Kitty's and Marie's lockers. The girls were side by side and chatting to each other, neither aware of the blue demon that was making his way towards them.

"Guten Tag!" Kurt made himself known, even though he was wishing he could curl up in a ball, maybe Todd's stench wasn't the only thing making him feel sick. Kitty smiled while Marie just gave him a casual grin, "Hey, how was your day?" "Horrid!" Evan appeared at Kurt's side. "An' how was it horrid, Porcupine?" Rogue closed her locker and the group started on their way to the parking lot. "Ugh, we have Todd in our last period Science class. Blue boy here was in near physical pain, your Dad would've too, Rogue, come to think of it." Evan slung an arm around Rogue's shoulders, not fearing her skin thanks to the sheer, green shirt she wore.

Kitty looped her arm with Kurt's, "Ouch, how ya feel now?" Kurt shrugged, "Better, but I am in zerious need of fresh air!" Kitty giggled as they stepped out the doors, letting the Sun that was peeking through the wispy clouds to warm their skin, or fur in Kurt's case.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt felt his head clear and his stomach settle, so it _was_ Todd's stench that was making him feel off, thank God for small miracles.

Kitty smiled and proceeded to drag Kurt across the pavement to the car, not even waiting for him to unlock it before bounding into the passenger side of the front seat. "You know, I prefer your driving over Scott's." Evan chuckled, "Well Scott's so uptight about his car, ya'll can't relax and enjoy the ride." Rogue chimed. "Making you vant to mess vith him even more." Kurt added. Kitty leaned back in her seat. The car Kurt had borrowed was a sleek, blue convertible and the top was down letting the sun bathe her.

The acrobat jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. None of them noticed the red sports car that was paused at the edge of the parking lot, with two teens watching their every move.

Jean and Scott watched as the four mutants laughed at a joke Evan told. Scott clenched the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip as Jean fiddled with the hem of her shirt in a nervous gesture. They pulled back as Kurt drove out of the lot, following behind them. "I hate this." Jean stated. Scott nodded, "I do too. Kitty doesn't know what Kurt's capable of doing, what he _has_ done. And Rogue and Evan just don't know what's best for them in general. After all, Evan was pretty much raised in Africa and Rogue has never had any constant companion other than Logan. Why can't they realize Kurt isn't what he says he is?!" Scott hit the steering wheel as Jean nodded along to his rant.

The red head placed a gentle hand on Scott's bicep, "Relax, sooner or later they'll come to their senses. I just hope nothing happens to them until then." Scott gave her a grateful smile. "You're right, like always. Thanks Jean." She smiled prettily. "That's what I'm here for Scott."

oOo

Once they pulled up to the mansion, Kitty reached over and switched off Kurt's image inducer, revealing his natural form. "There, much better." She opened her door and stepped out, grabbing her homework laden backpack with a sigh. "Lots of homework, Katzchen?" she sighed and nodded again, but Rogue replied for her, "Yep, German." "I don't understand _any_ of it!" Kitty exclaimed.

Evan chuckled when he saw a grin grace Kurt's face, "Vell then eet is good you have me." Kurt unwound his tail from his waist as they proceeded into the main entrance of the mansion, letting it swing behind him. Kitty looked hopeful, "Will you help me?" she batted her eye lashes and her blue eyes widened. The girl carefully tilted her head to the side, looking up at her best friend with her patented puppy dog pout.

"Es wäre mir eine Freude, meine Liebe." Kurt gave a sweeping bow. Rogue shook her head and headed to the kitchen, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "They're gonna end up tahgether."

Evan rolled his eyes, "Kurt, she doesn't understand German, that's why you're helping her." But neither Kurt nor Kitty seemed to be paying any attention as Kurt stood from his bow, and wrapped his tail around Kitty's waist, pulling the brunette to him. Kurt grinned wolfishly, "Let us begin zen." The two were gone in a flash of light and smoke.

Jean and Scott entered just as Kurt pulled Kitty to him and the two glared at the space the two had just vacated, "What was that?!" Evan turned, his grin disappearing to be replaced by a glare as he crossed his arms. "That was Kurt and Kitty teleporting, how blind are you?" It may have been harsh, Evan reflected, but Scott and Jean were being impossible.

The shaded boy ignored the barb and continued, "Where are they going?" Evan sighed and picked up his backpack, "Kurt's helping Kitty with her German homework, if you want to help her, feel free, but I doubt your first language is German, Flash Fry." Evan stalked up the stairs and down the hall to his room where he was quick to throw in a loud CD and grab the book he had been reading on skateboard tricks. It had been a gift from Kurt, Kitty and Rogue when they learned his birthday had been only a week before he had come to the mansion.

In Kurt's bedroom, Kitty lay on Kurt's bed on her stomach, her German text open in front of her. Kurt hung from his chandelier, looking down at Kitty. "Okay, let's see if I can pronounce this right." She carefully looked over her notes, "Mein Name ist Kitty Pryde und ich leben in Xavier-Institut für begabte Jugendliche. Mein Mitbewohner ist der Name Marie Logan und mein bester Freund ist, Kurt Wagner. (My name is Kitty Pryde and I live at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. My roommate is Marie Logan and my best friend is Kurt Wagner.) Kitty's accent was strong and she mispronounced a fair few of the words, but Kurt was able to decipher what she was saying fairly quickly.

"Sehr gut, Katzchen." (Very good, Katzchen.) Kurt praised. "Your accent is strong, but zat is to be expected. Look at me after all." Kitty grinned, and was practically glowing at her best friend's praise; it meant more than he knew. "Your pronunciation needs vork, but I vas still able to understand you, so zat's fine. Now, let's see if you can figure out vat I'm saying." Kitty nodded and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. "Herr Logan ist in der Gefahr Zimmer, und er wird bald kommen, um uns so kann er Kick unserer Esel." (Mr. Logan is in the Danger Room and he will soon be coming to get us so he can kick our asses.) Kitty dutifully scribbled down Kurt's statement then set to translating it.

It took a few minutes, but as soon as Kitty had it down she threw a wadded up piece of paper at the boy. "Ha ha, very funny Fuzzy." "I zought so." Kurt smirked and tossed back to piece of paper before flipping to the ground. "So, I hope zat vas an informative lesson." Kitty giggled and nodded, "Yeah, wish you were our teacher. It's more fun with you." Kurt chuckled and wrapped an arm around Kitty's shoulders as she phased them through his door and the couple headed down to her room. "Jes, vell, unfortunately a sixteen year old is not allowed to teach a class in our school. Even if ze current teacher has such a thick accent I zough she vas speaking Spanish ven she started speaking." Kurt laughed when he recalled his first German class.

[Flashback]

"Hallo Klasse! Mein Name ist Frau Keller oond ich werdey Sie lechren Deutsch in diesheim Jaheir." Kurt cocked an eyebrow, was this woman attempting to speak German, or was she speaking a different language entirely, he hadn't understood a word of what she had said. He raised a hand and she pointed him out, "Yes you have a question." Kurt nodded, "I didn't understand that." He struggled to keep his accent to a minimal. Mrs. Keller giggled, "Well of course you wouldn't I was speaking German."

In front of Kurt, Evan laughed, but struggled to cover it up with a cough. Mrs. Keller did not look impressed, but Kurt smirked, "Eigentlich bin ich, aus Deutschland, habe ich nicht verstehen, ein einziges Wort von dem, was Sie gerade gesagt. Es war unglaublich verwirrend." (Actually, I am from Germany, I did not understand a single word of what you just said. It was incredibly confusing.) The entire class chuckled quietly at the dumbstruck expression on the teacher's face, while Kurt struggled to keep from smirking widely.

"I-I'm sorry. Wha-what did you just say." Kurt sighed and repeated what he had just said, slower though. "I vas born und vraised in Germany. Zaying I do not know mein own language ist an incredible inzult." Kurt made no attempt to hide his accent and it came out thick as he spoke. The class laughed again, all enjoying the show. Mrs. Keller blushed brilliantly but regained herself quickly, "What is your name?" "Kurt Vagner." She nodded, "Yes, well, um..." she trailed off, not quite knowing how to fix the situation.

Kurt sat back in his seat as she turned to the board and began writing out the course objectives. She made no attempt to speak German again throughout the class, sticking firmly to English.

[End Flashback]

Kitty laughed as he retold the story, "I will _never_ get tired of that." She laughed again and Kurt held her up, "I should hope not."


	10. The Danger Room

Chapter 10: The Danger Room

Disclaimer: If I owned the X Men, I'd be Stan Lee and company, trust me I'm much younger, plus I'm female!

A/N: Well here it is, personally this is one of my favourite chapters. I am actually very disappointed right now. I _know_ you guys are reading Crossroads, so can you please review? I t would make me quite happy. Who knows, I might update early if you do...

A/N2: Kurt torture, plus Kurtty moments! You all know ya love em! Teeny bit of Jean bashing, but Scott is starting to come around, woo! Oh and Kurt's past comes back to haunt him, enjoy!

oOo

Kurt skilfully jumped out of the way of one of Scott's blasts, hissing when he felt some of the blast hit his arm. "Vatch it! I'm on your team, remember?!" Scott ignored Kurt's shout and went back to blasting the drones that surrounded them in their current DR session.

Above, in the Control Room, the rest of the team watched their leader and the acrobat _attempt_ to work together to complete the simulation. "What is Cyke doin'?" Logan growled, Scott had gotten fairly good at targeting, and anyone could see that he had purposefully messed up his shooting in attempt to get Kurt. Kitty watched, and bit her lip trying not to scream every time Kurt was nearly hurt; she wasn't really paying any attention to her surroundings.

Rogue joined her father looking over the battle, "What is he doin'?" Logan growled and his hand hovered over the shut-down button, he knew both from his own observations and Marie's rants, that Scott held a heavy dislike for Kurt, and he was worried that those feelings would cause him to act out and hurt Kurt. The elf was still small, but maybe that would work to his advantage in this case. Logan certainly hoped so.

As he flipped away from another one of Cyclops' "stray" blasts, Kurt smashed into one of the drones, which proceeded to grab the winded mutant in its tentacles. Kurt gasped; the feeling of the snake-like arms brought back memories that he would rather forget. The drone's grip on him tightened and he yelped in pain, gasping for air. "Cyclops! Cyclops, help!" Kurt called, blinking in an attempt to be rid of the black spots in front of his eyes.

Cyclops dismantled his current adversary and turned when he heard Nightcrawler's shout. He saw Kurt was trapped, the blue mutant's eyes filled with fear and panic. Everything seemed to freeze; he could either help his teammate, or abandon the demon. Scott watched as Kurt began to panic and try and claw his way out of the drone's grasp, to no avail.

Kitty grabbed Evan's hand, squeezing it as she watched her best friend writhe; Evan winced but wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her calm. "Relax, Kit, Logan won't let anything happen to him." He whispered softly, but kept his own worried gaze on his best mate's form below them.

Kurt gasped for air, black was creeping along the edges of his vision, his chest burned and he wasn't able to concentrate enough to teleport. "SCOTT! HELP!" Kurt's cried out again, his voice laced with pain and desperation.

Cyclops then started towards his teammate, his hand to his visor. There was a flash of red and the drone was down. Kurt fell to the ground, but was caught by Scott before he hit the metal floor. Kurt gasped and coughed for air, not even fighting Scott as he caught him.

Cyclops looked down at the sixteen year old in his arms, and for the first time, saw past the demon appearance. What he saw, was a scared, teenage boy, who had probably been through more than anyone should have to go through.

Carefully he set Nightcrawler down, watching the boy's chest rise and fall rapidly. "Nightcrawler? Kurt are you alright?" his voice was soft and worried. Kurt opened his eyes, seeing first the ceiling of the Danger Room, before sliding his gaze to the X Men leader. "Ja." He gasped out, "I-I think so." Scott grinned slightly before giving Kurt a hand up. "What do you say to finishing this simulation off in style then?"

Kurt smirked, baring his fangs. "I say, let's give zem hell!" Cyclops laughed.

A few minutes later, the simulation was completed and Scott and Kurt were headed to the locker rooms, praising each other on a job well done. "No, seriously, how could bending that way _not_ hurt?" Kurt chuckled and pulled on his white t-shirt. "Mein spine is more flexible zan yours, Scott, it vreally didn't hurt at all. No more than it hurts you to reach up to grab something from a high shelf." Scott shook his head. "Amazing." Kurt chuckled, "_I'm_ amazing? Vhat about ze vay you took out zose drones? Eet vas incredible!" the boys walked out of the locker room, hoping into the elevator and starting up to the Control Room. "I really didn't do anything, I mean, it's pretty easy to knock back one drone into the other, but the fact that it got six in a row was just a fluke." He shrugged but Kurt chuckled, "Just a 'fluke' he says..."

When the two stepped out of the elevator, the first thing that happened was that Kurt was nearly thrown in the wall when Kitty hurled herself into his arms. "Thank God you're alright!" Kurt looked down at his friend in confusion, before realizing Kitty was crying softly.

He didn't waste any time in wrapping his arms around her, rubbing her back soothingly. Evan came up then, and Scott edged away, remembering how coldly the boy had acted towards him. He had finally realized how wrong he had been about the German boy, but it would take a lot more than one Danger Room session for everything to be okay between the team.

"Not bad Cyke, Elf. Ya did good. Next up...Jeanie, Porcupine, get suited up." Logan re-set the DR. Evan clapped a hand on Kurt's shoulder on his way out, and entered the elevator with an apprehensive Jean. Kurt led Kitty over to some seats placed in the Control Room and pulled her down onto his lap, continuing to attempt the calm her. "Hush, Katzchen, I'm fine." Kitty's sobs turned to soft sniffles then hiccups as his words finally penetrated her mind, she calmed considerably, but remained on his lap.

"Alright, Red n' Spyke are in." Logan stated and started the simulation. Kitty and Kurt stood, looking over the Danger Room; both winced simultaneously when Jean and Spyke were catapulted into the wall by a strong blast of air. "That gotta hurt." Marie stated dryly. "Very much so." Scott added.

Jean created a bubble around herself, allowing her to be kept out of the wind, but that left Evan out in the open. "RED!" Wolverine shouted over the intercom. "This is a team work exercise. How do you plan to do that when your partner is down?!" Jean had the sense to look abashed as she widened the bubble to include her partner.

Evan picked himself up from the ground and glared at Jean, he seemed to say something that had Jean turning the same color as her hair, much to Kurt and Kitty's amusement.

After a few minutes, in which Jean and Evan managed to destroy most of the Danger Room, without actually attacking it, it was time for the entire team to go in together. The X Men stood together, spaced out throughout the room.

A buzzer sounded and they were off, large metal spheres were shot from the walls to be destroyed by Scott's blasts and Evan's spikes. Jean managed to keep one from hitting Rogue long enough for her to jump out of the way. Kurt scaled the wall, occasionally shouting out warnings to his teammates. Kitty gasped and jumped out of the way of a drone that rose out of the floor in front of her, one of the many that rose actually.

With a small scream she leaped to the side. Her feet were swept out from underneath her as the tentacles picked her up; she now hung from her ankles several feet from the ground. "Time to go." She felt Kurt's hands on her shoulders and suddenly she was back o the ceiling of the DR. She gave Nightcrawler a grateful smile. "Thanks Fuzzy."

He grinned and swept her onto his back. "No problem Katzchen." He started creeping down the wall, when small, pipe-like, obtrusions shot out of the walls; built in sprinkler like poles also shot of the floor. A red light flashed when suddenly, fire was flying.

Kurt froze up, his memory of being burned at the stake coming back violently. Screams of "Demon! Monster!" "Burn it!" were echoing in his head along with the sound of his own, child voice calling for his parents.

He snapped his eyes closed and clung to the wall as the world spun, moaning quietly. He vaguely heard Kitty asking him what was wrong, but all he really heard were calls of "Burn the demon!"

"Ich bin kein Dämon. Ich bin kein Dämon." (I'm not a demon. I'm not a demon.) He repeated over and over, shaking his head from side to side.

Kitty was truly worried, Kurt was frozen, she was lucky a platform had jutted out beneath them as she fell the short distance to land in a slight crouch. She looked up to see her friend pale, if that was at all possible, he was shaking violently, and he was mumbling something in German. She reached up and tried to pry Kurt off the wall, "Kurt? Kurt what's wrong?!" giving up on pulling him down, she gripped his shoulder and shook him. "Snap out of it Fuzzy!" she was becoming hysterical.

"Kurt! Snap out of it!" she drew back her hand and slapped him across the face.

Kurt's eyes flew open, the stinging on his cheek breaking him from his trance. He saw Kitty's tear stained face and found his grip on the wall releasing. He fell to the ground, shaking and chocking on the sobs that escaped him. He hugged himself and his tail wrapped around his stomach. Kitty's arms wrapped around him and he fell into her warm embrace, sobbing into her shoulder, repeating over and over, "Ich bin kein Dämon. Ich bin kein Dämon."

Kitty gently rubbed his back, her friend was so scared and she had no idea why. "Logan! Logan stop the simulation! Please!" the sound of the room powering down was what greeted her pleas. "Mutter, Vater, bitte hilf mir." (Mom, Dad, please save me.) Kurt whispered quietly as he passed out, the stress and fear from his memories rendering him unconscious.

Evan and Marie ran up, to find Kitty cradling a still trembling Kurt to her. "Kitty? What happened?" Rogue placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder and saw the tears tracks on the blue mutants face. "Is he alright?" Evan placed two fingers on his friend's neck to check his pulse to find it strong, if a tad faster than normal. "I-I don't know. One second he's crawling down the wall, the next his shaking like this and mumbling something in German." She stroked his hair and held him tight. "Kitty? What's wrong?" Logan was obviously incredibly worried if he wasn't calling her 'Half-Pint'.

"It's Kurt." She stated before Logan had pushed aside Evan and Marie to look over Kurt himself. "Jean, did you notice anything different is his thought patterns." Jean crept over, but her mouth remained closed, "ANSWER ME!" Logan growled, his brown eyes flashing dangerously. Everyone jumped but Kitty who was focused entirely on Nightcrawler. "I-I don't know. I haven't been able to read his mind from day one." That knowledge froze everyone for a minute. "Alright. Let's get him ta Hank."

Logan swept Kurt into his arms, holding the boy in a surprising gentle way. Well, surprising to everyone but Marie, she had a fair few memories of crawling into bed with her Dad after a particular nightmare about her birth parents.

Wolverine, flanked by his daughter, Kitty and Evan traveled down the halls at a fast pace to get to the medical bay. "Hank!" the Institute's other blue mutant came out from his office and, spying the unconscious X Man in Logan's arms, all but ran over and took him into his own arms to place him on the exam table. Kitty rushed over and grabbed Kurt's three fingered hand, squeezing it tightly as if trying to let him know he wasn't alone.

Dr. McCoy shuffled everyone else out into the hallway, but found that he would have to use the 'Jaws of Life' to pry Kitty away from Kurt and left her there. He pulled off Kurt's gloves with Kitty's assistance and was able to remove his shirt without any problems. Checking the boy's vitals he found everything to be completely fine, even if Kurt had been suffering from malnutrition and sleep deprivation when he had arrived, he had recovered quickly.

"What happened, exactly, Kitty?" Shadowcat took a shuddering breath before beginning her story, telling Beast everything. Hank looked off in thought, "From what you've told me, it appears that something might have jogged a memory of his. What exactly was he saying?" Kitty thought hard, "Um, it was something like uh…ich bin kane demon, or something like that." Kitty felt ashamed that she couldn't figure out what he had been saying, even after all this time. Hank thought for a moment, "Hmm, well I guess we won't know for sure until he wakes up. I'll call Charles." The Professor had been off on at a medical convention that he had been funding and wouldn't be back until Tuesday, it was Friday currently.

"Feel free to stay here Kitty, but only you, I don't think it would be best if there were any more visitors, you can let the others in after he wakes up…if he wants to see them." Kitty nodded, but kept her gaze on Kurt. As Dr. McCoy left, she brushed his cobalt hair from his face. "Please be okay." She whispered and brushed a kiss to his forehead.


	11. Burning Memories

Chapter 11: Burning Memories

Disclaimer: Me no own.

The first thing Kurt noticed when he came to was the soft sound of sniffling from next to him, he also noticed that he was in a semi-comfortable bed, that had a distinct antiseptic scent. ~_What in hell happened? ~ _The memory of the training session came back to him, slowly, and he felt a shiver run through him at the thought of the fire.

Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times as the blank, white ceiling of the Med. Bay filled his vision. He groaned at the bright light and snapped his eyes shut again.

"Kurt?!" Kitty's voice came to his ears like a familiar song and he calmed considerably. "Light bad." He mumbled and turned towards the direction of her voice, burying his face in the pillow beneath his head.

A watery giggle greeted his comment and from behind his eyelids he saw the lights dim. Kitty's gentle hand stroked his cheek and he opened his eyes again to see his best friend's tear stained face.

He gave her a slight grin. "Hi." She grinned, "Hey." They simply stared at one another for a little while before Kitty nudged him over and joined him in the bed, resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"What happened to you?" Kitty broke the silence, both anticipating and dreading the answer. Kurt sighed, and nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing in the scent of her mango shampoo and the sweet scent that was just Kitty. "I-I've, had zome…_bad_ experiences with fire." He whispered, pain flaring through his chest as he remembered the ropes that had held him from his family.

Feeling her friend shutter, and not wanting a replay of the Danger Room, Kitty wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. Kurt hugged her back, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears that fought to escape.

He held his tongue for about five seconds before his entire story came spilling out. His parents, Connor, being burned at the stake, finding himself abandoned, living as a demon in exile for years, everything.

Kitty was frozen, she had guessed that something had happened to Kurt, after all no one lived in abandoned churches just for the heck of it, but this was beyond what she had _ever_ guessed.

Kurt shook, and had to speak past the sobs that choked him. He expected Kitty to pull away from him in revulsion, but instead she held him tighter, whispering soothing words after his had dried up and given way to body wracking and heart wrenching sobs.

"I vas left alone." He whispered into her shoulder. Kitty stroked his hair, feeling her own tears run down her cheeks and her stomach flip at the idea of someone actually being burned at the stake, but there was one thing she had to ask. "How old were you?" he looked up, his tear filled golden eyes looking into her aqua blue ones. "Seven." He whispered. Kitty whimpered and pulled him close to her, her stomach flipped again. Seven, he had been seven years old, only a child, and people had tried to kill him.

"I'm sorry, I am so, _so_ sorry Kurt." The two clung to each other like life lines, murmuring to each other.

Kurt turned his head and kissed her cheek, feeling a soft smile come to his face. "Vielen Dank, Liebe." (Thank you, love.) She smiled softly and nuzzled her face in the soft fur that covered his chest. "You know I'm always here for you, right?" Kurt smiled, "I do now." The two drifted off to sleep together, Kitty happily wrapped in Kurt's arms.

oOo

Dr. Hank McCoy was well known for his love of Science, his gentle nature and his wicked sense of humour. He was also known to be quite perceptive, so when he walked back in to check on Kurt, he was not at all surprised to find the boy, along with his best friend, curled up together, sleeping peacefully.

Shaking his head he chuckled quietly and pulled a blanket over the two of them, "You're going to end up together whether you like it or not." He mumbled, unknowingly copying what Marie had predicted, and flicked off the light as he left.

Entering the hallway outside the medical wing, he found Rogue pacing restlessly, Evan fiddling with one of his own spikes and Logan leaning against the wall directly across from the door, an impatient glare on his face.

When the blue man walked out of his office, the three were on him like hyenas. "Is he alrahght?" "Did he wake up?" "What happened?" these and similar questions were thrown at him at lightning speed.

"Relax, everyone!" the three X Men closed their mouths. "Kurt's fine, something just gave him a scare. If he wants to tell you, he will. If not, don't go badgering him for information." Logan opened his mouth to protest. "I know you all love Kurt and feel very protective of him, and I'm sure if something similar happened to you he would be reacting in the same way, but if it scared him this much, I doubt he wants the world to know about it." Logan growled, but nodded, along with Marie, there were things in their pasts that they hadn't told anyone but each other.

Evan sighed, "When can we see him?" Hank gave him a small smile, "When he wakes up." Evan nodded and started towards the elevator. "In that case, I'm getting a sleeping bag and a snack." Hank chuckled and Logan shook his head. "Make that two, Porcupine!" Marie ran out after Evan.

A few minutes later, Evan and Marie were situated outside the Med. Bay, sitting on sleeping bags, with a book, or comic in Evan's case, and several snacks. They'd had also had the foresight to grab a large snack for Kurt and Kitty too.

After an hour or so, Hank opened the door, and nearly tripped over Evan who was sprawled across the floor. With an amused expression on his face he stepped aside, "Kurt's awake now." Marie and Evan quickly stood, dropping everything and all but ran past Beast, they couldn't have gone faster if they had Kurt's powers.

When Spyke and Rogue entered the room, they found Kitty laying on the bed, her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling. Looking up, they found Kurt, hanging upside down from his tail, which was wrapped around one of the ceiling beams. "Morning Elf." Kurt bent backwards so he was facing them, he grinned sheepishly, "Uh, Guten Tag."

The two walked over and lay on either side of Kitty, who giggled as she was sandwiched between them.

Kurt sighed and flipped so he was crouching on the beam instead of hanging from it. "I guess you vant to know vhat happened…" Rogue shook her head, "Only if you want ta tell us." Kurt grinned, "Maybe one day." "Good enough for me." Evan stated, and just like that, the uncomfortable atmosphere was lifted and the four were left joking around.

"Oh, hey I almost forgot." Evan left the room to come back with the snacks they had brought down for their friends. "I thought you might be hungry." Kurt ported down next to Evan, "Thank Gott, I vas vorried I'd have to eat you!" Marie and Kitty laughed as Kurt flashed his fangs in Evan's direction. "Ha ha." He deadpanned and handed Kurt the snacks, tossed Kitty and Rogue theirs before collapsing in a chair to munch on his chips.

After they were happily full, Hank poked his head into the room. "Kurt, you're free to go whenever you want." Kurt sighed, "Danke, Herr McCoy." The blue man nodded and left, heading into his office. "In zat case, I'm going to burn off some energy so I'm not driving Herr Logan crazy later." He ported out, leaving his grinned friends.

"How much you want to bet he's going to find a way to prank Jean?" Evan questioned as they left. Kitty mock thought, "Nothing, but anyone want to guess what the prank will be?" Marie grinned evilly, "It's going to have something to do with hair dye."

oOo

Kurt pulled a red t-shirt over his head and poked his tail through the hole at the back of his tan cargos. Grinning, he ported to the edge of the forest that surrounded the Institute.

Falling to all fours, he took off, leaping over fallen logs, and dodging trees. He came to a large oak and, slowing down only slightly, he started scaling it with ease. Once he reached the top, he started leaping from tree to tree, flipping and twisting in ways that would make the Circ de Solae jealous and 'bamfing' whenever the distance was too great.

Kurt leapt, catching a branch with his tail and swinging there until his momentum slowed. Pulling himself up, he crept up the tree and broke through the canopy, staring up at the sky that was slowly darkening, changing orange, pink, purple and yellow as the sun set over the ocean.

He sighed and crouched there, watching the sun set, the ocean glittering like liquid diamond.

Breathing in deeply, the memory of being comforted by Kitty came back to him, making smile come to his face. "Ich liebe sie." (I love her.)He whispered to darkness.

Once Kurt had made his way back to the mansion, he ported up to his room, to find Kitty lying on his bed reading a book.

"Hey Fuzzy." She greeted without looking up. Kurt chuckled and grabbed a change of clothes for dinner, he doubted anyone would appreciate it if he came down covered in dirt and grass stains; while he was at it, he might as well brush out the knots that had turned up in his fur.

Thankful he had his own bathroom, and was able to have a hot shower and change into a white dress shirt and black suit pants, his shirt un-tucked to not look too formal with his image inducer off.

He ran a hand through his hair after he had brushed himself, thank God his tail could reach his back.

Stepping out he sat himself down next to Kitty, who was wearing a knee length, flowing black skirt, and pink blouse, her hair in its regular ponytail. Usually, everyone just had dinner in the kitchen or dining room at different times, but once a week, everyone got together in the dining room to have a 'family' dinner.

"You look nice Katzchen." Kitty smiled, looking Kurt up and down as he lay next to her. "I could say the same thing." A knock at the door made them jump, "Hey Elf, time for dinner." "Like I'd miss it!" Kurt shot back at Logan. Wolverine's chuckles faded as he walked down the hall.

Kurt stood from the bed, wrapping his tail around Kitty's waist and pulling her with him. "C'mon, or _you'll_ be my meal." Kitty grinned, "Aw, you'd never do that, you love me too much." Kurt grinned wolfishly, "Who knows…maybe one day I'll decide I'd like a Kitty burger with extra fries." Kitty smacked his shoulder mumbling "Bad Joke." as they strode down the halls to the dining room, to take their seats across from Marie and Evan.

After everyone was seated, Hank allowed everyone to dig in, taking the place of the Professor at the head of the table for the evening. Ororo and Logan were to his right and left, respectively.

As everyone else started eating, Kurt bowed his head for a second and spoke a quick prayer of thanks in German, no one but Kitty noticed him do so.

She had taken to watching Kurt when he had first joined them, and found that, not only was he a fairly even tempered and optimistic person, he was also very faithful in his religion, always taking the time before a meal to say grace in his native tongue. Kitty bowed her head along with him, listening to his prayer and silently joining him in it. "Amen." Kitty spoke at the same time, just as quiet as Kurt, before digging into her salad.

Marie had never been to Church growing up, and besides the ceremonies that worshipped his Aunt as a goddess, neither had Evan, but they had both been silent and bowed their heads during Kurt's prayer. Whether the blue mutant knew what they did so was unknown, but they enjoyed joining him all the same.

The four dug into their meal of salad, spaghetti and bread with gusto, Ororo smiled as she watched her beloved nephew smiling and laughing with his friends.

Back in Africa, he hadn't been able to achieve friends, at least not any close ones, because of who _she_ was. It lifted her heart to watch her Sun live a, semi, normal life. Logan too, was fighting to keep a happy smile off his face. He and Marie were both loners, with only each other for a long time. He loved his daughter, and he knew, she loved him; but she was still a kid, and needed more than just her father for companionship. Kurt was quickly becoming an older brother figure to his little girl, and more and more like a son to him. Evan was becoming the annoying, but loyal, guy-friend, the one that her father trusted with his daughter, and Kitty was turning into little sister/best friend.

Logan had always worried, as Marie grew up, that her mutation would keep her from having friends for her entire life. And Rogue _had_ tried to keep them at a distance, but the three were stubborn and for every inch Marie forced them away, they got six feet closer, refusing to let Marie alienate herself. For that Logan for grateful, Marie didn't try and push them away anymore, gaining the best friends of her life.

The quartet was oblivious to their guardians' thoughts and continued to plow through the food that was set before them.

oOo

A/N: Yay, another chapter. Hope this one was up to par for everyone. Please review, I have a nice little Kurtty one shot written if this story reaches 30 reviews. Oh, and did you know that Crossroads only has like 4 reviews. *wink*


	12. Parental Comfort

Chapter 12: Parental Comfort

A/N: Another Kurtty moment (YAY!) some Rogue/Wolverine father-daughterness, plus, Jean gets hers! And gets some sense knocked into that head of hers! Enjoy!

A/N: Okay, so I'm writing this chapter and guess what occurs to me? A whole new story idea! So please check out my new story 'Upbringings'. It's of Marie and Evan's childhoods with their respective guardian.

oOo

_You will always be on our minds and in our hearts, our fantastic Nightcrawler…_

Kurt sighed and wiped his cheeks, reading the note that had been left by his parents always made him blue, no pun intended.

"Whatcha reading?" Kitty leaned against the stone railing of Kurt's balcony, the railing he was currently crouching on. "Huh? Oh…nothing." Kitty raised an eyebrow and hoisted herself up so she was sitting next to Kurt, her back to the view. She grinned when his tail, reflexively, wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling. "Then why are you in such a dark mood?" Kurt sighed, "Just… a note from a long time ago." He whispered. "What could it say that has you so sad?" she was worried now; her normally optimistic friend was only upset when something really bad happened.

Kurt sighed and ported them both back into the bedroom. He smoothed out the note and started to translate it, there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't get through reading it aloud without breaking down entirely.

Handing the paper, that was now covered in his re-write of the note, over to Kitty he settled in a chair and stared out in the distance, wondering, not for the first time, where his parents, where Arnold and Anna Wagner were. If they had adopted any more children, if they still thought about him.

~_Shut up! Of course they think about you! You need to get it into your thick skull that they loved you, and they still do! They probably think about you every time the Circus comes into town, every time they go to church, or set up the Christmas tree. They probably cry on your birthday, they still love you! They're your parents! ~_ Kurt sighed, but listened to the voice in his head that sounded like a pissed off Rogue.

A small warm hand became present on his shoulder and he turned his head to see a teary eyed Kitty smiling softly at him. "That's amazing." She hugged him around the shoulders, sighing softly. That note had touched her heart, but also brought to light that her parents hadn't thought about her in any way other than a means to become wealthier. She had told Kurt this, of course, and he had comforted her, but the thought still brought a wash of anger and sadness over her.

"What are you thinking about, Katzchen?" Kitty sighed, "My parents, I wonder if they miss me." Kurt's tail wrapped around her and gently pushed her so she was in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sure they do." He whispered in her ear. She kissed his soft cheek, "Thanks Fuzzy." He hugged her tight.

oOo

[Flashback]

Rain beat against the window, blurring the outside world from anyone who looked. Nine year-old Marie watched with a heavy heart, she had been with Logan for nearly a year now, and she felt safer than she had ever felt with her birth parents.

Currently, it was 12:30 a.m., April 6, her ninth birthday, to be exact.

She sighed again, she and Logan, or Wolverine as he also went by, had traveled for some time, before they settled in a small town in Alberta. Logan had opened a garage and now worked fixing people's cars, trucks and motorcycles. It turned out that cage fighting paid well (at least when you won every fight), and he also had a few bank accounts that he was able to pull money from. They lived in a small, two floor and basement house, just up a dirt road, about a fifteen minute drive from the town boarders. Their house was surrounded by trees that shadowed the property and gave them privacy.

The top floor of the house was taken up by two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Marie's room back at her old house had been outfitted with pale pink walls, a single bed that was slightly too small, and thin, lacey curtains. A very girly room to be sure; but when asked what color she wanted her room to be by Logan, Marie insisted it be emerald green and dark brown. The four walls were now those two colors in alternating thin and thick stripes.

Logan had carved them both beds from trees he took down and the handmade, oak bed she had now was big enough that she'd be able to grow into it.

The deep green covers were currently askew as Marie had been woken by the thunder and lightning. Giving sleep up as a bad job, the girl had taken up her thinking place on the window seat. Her chin rested on her knees with the only sounds in the room being that of the rain, thunder and her slow, calm breathing.

Wolverine had found a way to adopt her, without her parents having to know, or sign anything, and she now proudly wore the name Marie Diane "Rogue" Logan. She loved the name and had introduced herself happily at her new school as Marie Logan, having dropped the Anna part as soon as possible.

There was a soft knock on her door and Marie turned to see Logan leaning against the door frame, a slight grin on his face.

"Hey Kid." "Hi Logan." "Couldn't sleep?" he came over and sat across from her as she shook her head. "You?" he shook his head, "Nightmares, not fun things." Marie giggled at the man's sarcasm.

Logan stretched his arms above his head, "Well as long as we're both up, I have a surprise for ya."

Marie hopped down from her seat and followed Logan down the stairs to the living room, simply furnished with a few couches, and two large armchairs, all centered around the fireplace, the TV hung above it. One of their favorite pastimes was settling down and watching hockey together.

Marie noticed something sat on the coffee table and walked over to find it was a small, ten cm by ten cm box wrapped in emerald green wrapping paper. She turned around to see Logan smiling happily, "Happy birthday, Marie." She looked down at the present; her parents had never gotten her something for her birthday since she was five. "Is it really for me?" he nodded.

She stroked the still wrapped present, "How'd ya know it was mah birthday?" Logan chuckled, "I noticed ya write it on yer calendar. Pretty glad actually, was worried I'd have to ask, then it wouldn't be a surprise. Go on and open it up."

She smiled and ripped the paper off, revealing a black box. Opening it, she found a silver necklace with three charms hanging from it; a silver charm in the shape of an "R", a black charm in the shape of a paw print and a small, oval shaped emerald.

Marie felt her breath catch and picked up the necklace, running her fingers over the charms. She wasted no time in clasping it around her neck and looking to Logan for approval.

The man was smiling softly, his eyes shining. "You look beautiful darlin'. I'm gonna have ta start beatin' the boys off with a bat!" Marie giggled happily and run over to Logan, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek, they had found that, while Logan's mutation didn't completely eliminate hers, it definitely slowed it down and they were able to touch for very short periods of time.

"Thank you Daddy." Logan froze and for a second she thought she'd said something wrong, before he hugged her tightly, having her miss the two tears of happiness that fell from his eyes. "Yer welcome darlin'." He kissed her head and daughter and father sat there, listening to the rain that continued to fall from the sky.

[End Flashback]

Marie brought a hand up to touch the necklace, running her fingers over the familiar charms. The "R" for Rogue, the paw-print that represented Logan and the beautiful emerald that shone in every light.

The rain that fell today reminded her of that night and she smiled softly before getting up, suddenly wanting to see her Dad.

Marie traveled silently around the mansion, passing by the rec. room where Kitty and Kurt were curled up with mugs of hot chocolate and watching a movie, and by Ororo's indoor greenhouse, where Evan was helping his Aunt care for her plants. Finally, she came to the library and weaving in and out of the shelves, found her father seated near the window, the paper in hand and an empty mug on the table next to him.

She smiled and bound over, wrapping her arms around him from behind. Logan looked up in surprise, but smiled when he saw who it was. She unwrapped her arms from around him and came round to settle on his lap, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Hi." She greeted, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her thin form, "Hey Kid. Whatcha bin up to?" she giggled. "Nothin' Ah just wanted to see ya." She closed her eyes and tuned herself into his heartbeat. "Good to know ya still want yer old man's company." "You're not _old_ Daddy." She only called him that when they were alone. He chuckled, "Kid, I've lived through the Second World War, if that ain't old I don't know _what_ is." She giggled, "Fahne, but ya'll don't _look_ old." He shrugged. "True enough."

"How ya bin holdin' up?" he whispered softly, after they had come to the Institute, they hadn't really gotten any time to just talk. She smiled, "Good, Hank said he's workin' on somethin' ta control mah skin, and the Professor's bin working with meh to find an off switch on mah own." Logan knew this of course, but listened intently. "Kitty's bin tryin' tah get meh to go shopping with her." Logan chuckled, "She does know she'd have more success with _Evan_ right?" Marie giggled again, "Yeah, but she's always insisting' on a girls shopping trip…Kurt's been acting weird, even for him." She whispered the last part softly.

Rogue looked up at her father, hoping to find some answer, "Ah'm worried about him." Wolverine sighed and stroked her hair, "I know, darlin', I am too." Rogue sighed, "Ah just wish I could help him, I've heard him get up in tha middle of tha night, he's worse than you." Logan nodded again, "I've actually seen him, some nights. I don't think it's simply insomnia or nightmares. I think the kid feels genuinely comfortable in the dark."

Marie sighed softly, "Ah know…but, after that Danger Room session, he's been off, ya know? It's like he's always remembering somethin' sad." She thought back to when the boy had come to the Institute, how thin and undernourished he'd been; a very weak and scared version of a sixteen year old boy to be sure.

She looked up at her Dad, "I just realized somethin'. We don't know _when _his birthday is!" Logan cocked an eyebrow before smiling; "You should ask the Elf then." Rogue smiled, before smirking evilly, "Ya know…Jean was beatin' on him the other day when he missed a class cause his watch was on the fritz, do ya think ya'll could help me?" she batted her eyes and Logan returned her smirk with one of his own. "We're goin' ta need pink hair dye, her shower schedule, Kitty, fish-net stockings, a leather shirt of some sort and a short, leopard print skirt. We are also going to need a camera or two, and Evan."

oOo

~_If this doesn't get Kurt out of the funk he's in, nothing will. ~_ Evan thought as he used his spikes to seal Jean's door shut from the inside. Kitty had phased them both in when Jean got in her shower, and while he was doing his part, Kitty was replacing a few things in the bathroom.

Said brunette appeared through the wall with a bundle of towels and clothes. "All set." Evan smirked, "This'd better work."

Kitty giggled and dropped Jean's things on the bed; this included all the towels on this floor, as well as Jean's clothes and undergarments that she was going to change into after her shower. "Let's get downstairs." Kitty phased them both back out into the hallway and they sprinted down to find Logan and Marie waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

If Jean wanted a new towel, clothes, or anything, actually, now that her room was sealed; she'd have to go this way.

"Alright, now where's the Elf?" Evan grinned, "Bedroom, most likely hanging from his chandelier." "Or he could be vright above you, listening to every word you say." A German accented voice piped up.

Everyone looked up sharply to see Kurt hanging from the ceiling, just as Evan had guessed, "Vhat are you doing?" he questioned, swaying from side to side slightly.

Rogue raised her arms in exasperation, "How long have ya bin thahyre?!" Kurt chuckled and seemed to shrug, "Few minutes, long enough to see Keety and Evan come back from wherever zey just vere." He grinned slightly, showing off his fangs, but it still seemed forced.

Kitty smiled, "Good then, you have a perfect vantage place to watch the show." Kurt looked confused, "Vhat _show_ Keety? Vhat are you all up to?" Logan chuckled, "Oh you'll see, Elf." The four on the ground dispersed to hide themselves in the shadows or behind decorative plants and busts.

A few minutes later, both Logan and Kurt's ears perked at the sound of a shriek.

~_Okay, now I'm really confused. ~_ Kurt thought.

He didn't remain that way for long though, because Jean came around the corner wearing extremely short, leather shorts, fishnet stockings, a tight leopard print shirt that stopped right beneath her breasts and had a plunging neckline. Black leather, stiletto, platform shoes adorned her feet while her still wet hair dripped down her back, but instead of its regular, deep crimson color, her hair was now a shocking pink. She looked like a drowned hooker.

Kurt's jaw dropped and he nearly lost his grip on the light.

Evan was the first to lose it as he started chuckling before laughing all out. Kitty fell down in hysterics while Marie leaned on Logan to stay upright. The Wolverine in question was laughing full out himself, keep one arm around his daughter while the other was against the wall to keep from falling. Kurt himself started laughing loud and hard, clutching his sides, he was shaking so badly he knew he wouldn't be able to hold onto the light and ported to the ground, where he fell to his back, still hugging his stomach, his tail flipping happily as he laughed.

Alerted by the sound of their hysterical laughter, Beast and Storm entered to find a blushing Jean standing in her hooker attire. Scott also came in, took one look at the former red head, and fainted.

The sound of their 'fearless leader's' body hitting the ground caused the guilty party in question and a certain fuzzy elf to laugh even harder.

Storm didn't know whether to yell or laugh, but taking one look at the happy elf that continued to laugh, she smiled and covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her giggles. Hank bit his lip, but he couldn't take it, laughing also at his student whose face now matched her previous hair color.

Jean blushed ruby before running down the hall towards the boys' hall closet for a towel; she had tried to get into her room to find it wouldn't budge. She was going to have to either climb the wall outside to get into her room, or have Kitty phase her in. The second option seemed to be out as the girl in question appeared to be in on the prank as well. From the look on Kurt's face, he had nothing to do with it, which proposed the question, since when did the "King of Pranks" not participate in a joke? Especially on her.

Storm's thoughts then came back to the teenager as she hid in the bathroom and dried herself off, grimacing at the color her hair had been turned. She had been relieved to see Kurt in a good mood.

~_Maybe I'll let it go, just this once. ~_ She thought.

oOo

Tada! I give you chapter 12! Hope you liked it and please review!


	13. Gems

Chapter 13: Gems

Disclaimer: I do not own the X Men, but if Marvel wishes to sell it to me, I'm not about to turn them down! :D

****IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE, PLEASE READ BEFORE PROCEEDING! ****

A/N: I don't know shit about the X Men comics and all information I have comes from the movies, Internet and XME. Please forgive me if I get something wrong. Anyhow, I've decided to bring a certain, red demon into play, just for the hell of it. (You will know when Daddy makes his big entrance) I promise _plenty_ of Kurtty moments. Also, any ideas on who Roguey should be paired with? Please give me your input, but if any of you say any of the following, my demon siblings will come and eat you in your sleep.

Ray, Bobby, Logan (ew! Not in _this_ story honeys), Jamie, Scott (nuh uh, sorry people, don't swing that way) Jean (not that way either you perverts) Todd, Lance, Wanda (or any girls, actually), Blob (EEEEEEWWWWW!) Hank, the Professor (WTFH is wrong with you?) or blueberry muffins (one of my friends suggested this…don't ask).

For all those wondering, please don't submit any "New Mutants" I just don't like having them as main parts of my stories, more like filler characters, sorry if anyone hates me for this.

Wow really long A/N, I'll be sure to make this chapter extra long, on to the story!

oOo

Kurt tossed and turned in his bed in an attempt to get comfortable, but it seemed he would be going sleepless for the night. Damn Evan for suggesting they have chocolate cake for dessert!

With a defeated sigh Kurt got up, glaring at his bed ~_Fine! Keep your deep sleeps for when I'm late for school! ~_

Pulling a shirt on, he traveled downstairs, completely silent, it would have been a miracle if _Logan_ knew he was up and about.

Passing the stairs, Nightcrawler stayed true to his name and crept through the darkness. Finding himself at the end of a hall, more precisely in front of a floor to ceiling window that opened onto a large, semi circle balcony, Kurt opened one of the glass doors and strode out, the cool night wind ruffling his fur gently.

With another sigh, the boy crossed his arms and leant against the stone railing, looking out over the Institute's grounds; what had been his home for the last few months.

His entire being seemed to vibrate with energy, and he suddenly couldn't stand still. Not taking the time to close the door that had remained open on his venture outside, Kurt leapt off the balcony, somersaulting in the air to land in a crouch on the grass.

Staying on all fours, Kurt took off, heading towards the forest, his mind and eyes oddly blank.

oOo

Kitty stretched her arms above her head, taking in the regular Saturday morning sounds that permeated the mansion. Rogue was grumbling about being woken up by her alarm, which she always seemed to forget to turn off. The sound of a few others passing by the door was also normal. Scott complaining about how much time Jean took in the bathroom, Kitty could even hear Spyke complaining back at Scott for waking him up. What was strange was that Kurt had yet to pop in for her regular, Saturday morning tickle fight/wake up call.

It was like a ritual; Kurt would port in, Rogue would scream in exasperation before wrapping a sweater around her and stomping out towards her Dad's room in attempt to catch a few more minutes sleep in the older mutant's bed. Kitty would then proceed to feign sleep, but Kurt would jump on her, exclaiming that she shouldn't waste the day in bed. She would attempt to hit him with a pillow; he would duck, and then proceed to start tickling her sides mercilessly with his tri-digit fingers.

Kitty looked at the clock, nearly ten-thirty, where was he?

~_He probably just slept in, or maybe he decided to get breakfast early. Logan could have gotten him to do an early DR session.~_ Kitty thought up several different reasons her friend could be absent, but that didn't stop the small seed of worry from growing in her mind.

Pulling on a baggy, long sleeved, white shirt, that she had "borrowed" from Kurt, over her spaghetti strap tank top and short shorts, she pulled on a pair of thick socks and left her now snoring roommate behind as she phased through the door, and through Evan who had been leaning against the door.

"What the?!" Evan started, "Kitty?! What're you doing?" Evan pulled the spikes that had come out of his shoulders and upper arms in his surprise, back under his skin. No matter how many times she saw him do so, Kitty still winced; she'd never been big on needles.

"Sorry Evan, but have you seen Kurt?" Evan shook his head, "Nope, what he didn't wake you up?" Evan knew as well as anyone Kurt's favorite way of waking his friend.

"No, but he probably just slept in or something. See you at breakfast." Kitty waved behind her as she ran down the hall towards Kurt's room.

The demon like mutant got one of the bigger bedrooms and didn't have to live with a roommate. She stopped at the boy's bathroom to see if he was in the shower or something, but it was empty. ~_Stupid, Kitty! He has his own bathroom! ~_

Coming to Kurt's door, Kitty knocked, but the door swung open as her fist hit it.

A confused expression on her face, she pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped into the room.

The covers on Kurt's bed were tossed, his balcony doors were closed and the lights were off. Looking up, she saw that he wasn't hanging from the ceiling either.

Biting her lip, she looked around to find no sign of her best friend. ~_God, I hope he's alright. ~_

Leaving the bedroom, she sprinted down the halls to the kitchen, running through anything in front of her.

Once in the kitchen, she only found Logan reading the newspaper, Evan gulping down a glass of milk, and Ororo at the stove, no Fuzzy Elf was in sight.

"Has anyone seen Kurt? I can't find him." Logan looked up, before folding his newspaper and standing. "Alright, calm down Half-Pint. I'll help ya."

Kitty sighed and smiled gratefully. "Thanks Mr. Logan." Wolverine shrugged and the two started back upstairs.

"Where have ya checked so far?" Logan was actually a little worried about the elf; he'd never worry Kitty like this.

"His bedroom, all the bathrooms on this floor, and the kitchen." Logan nodded, "He's not in the Danger Room, I was just there." Kitty nodded and the two entered Kurt's room, without the teenager in it, it seemed almost haunted to Shadowcat.

Logan sniffed the air, "He hasn't been here since early this morning." He led Kitty back out to the hall where he followed Kurt's most recent scent trail, to come to an open, balcony door. The two stepped outside and Logan sniffed the air again.

"He was here, he came in and he stood at the railing for a while, then he…leapt off the balcony?" Logan seemed confused and Kitty looked over the grounds.

"Maybe he went for a walk?"

Logan shook his head, "He wouldn't leave without telling anyone, and I doubt he'd leave the grounds, his holo-watch was still in his room, and he wouldn't leave without it." Kitty nodded, but could feel a lump forming in her throat.

"I'm going to the Professor." Kitty heard the note of panic in her voice and took off at a dead run through the mansion until she came to Xavier's office.

Knocking several times, she entered through the door to find the Professor at his desk. "Are you alright, Kitty?" Waves of panic were rolling off the girl.

"Kurt! He's just…gone. Mr. Logan can't even find him!" Xavier motioned for her to sit. "Take deep, slow breaths now, I will search for him." Kitty did as she was instructed and watched as the Professor closed his eyes and brought his fingers to his temples.

Charles did a sweep of the entire mansion, then the grounds and finally, he searched the forest, and…there it was, a slight light of energy in the woods, but it was strangely dim.

~Logan! Come to my office immediately! ~

A few minutes later Logan entered, his expression concerned, "What is it? Didja find the elf?"Charles nodded, "He's in the forest, but please be quick."

With a quick mental message of Kurt's position, Logan left the room at a dead run, Kitty leapt after him, placing a hand on his arm, she phased them both outside. "Get inside, Half-Pint, and get changed, I'll be right back." Kitty nodded, she knew she would only slow Wolverine down.

Shadowcat ran back into the mansion and to her room where she changed into a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt, but she kept Kurt's shirt over her own, wanting his comforting scent near her. She pulled her hair into a ponytail as she ran back outside and paced impatiently to wait for Logan.

She only had to wait a few more minutes, but it felt like eternity, when Logan emerged from the trees, cradling something to his chest.

Kitty whimpered and ran forward to see Kurt lying in Logan's arms, dead silent and barely moving, there was only the slight rise and fall of his chest that told her he was alive.

"Kurt." She breathed his name, and felt tears start down her cheeks.

"Can you phase me and Kurt down to Hank?" Kitty nodded and placed a hand on Logan's arm, while taking Kurt's tail in the other hand and holding it gently.

She almost wanted to laugh hysterically when his tail slowly, but surely wrapped around her wrist. Her tears renewed and she phased all three of them down to the Med. Bay.

The Professor had apparently told Hank of the situation for the ape like man was waiting for them.

Logan laid Kurt on the bed he was directed to and stepped back. Hank tried to get Kitty to move back, but she just grinned a little, looking down at Kurt.

"I can't."

"Kitty, I understand you're worried, but a really have to examine him."

"I know but…" she raised her wrist, to show Kurt's tail still wrapped around her firmly.

Logan snorted, "He doesn't want her ta go, chief."

Hank shook his head, but said nothing more, beginning his examination of Kurt. Kitty sat next to the bed, stroking the soft fur of Kurt's tail.

Pretty soon, Hank had an IV in Kurt's arm, "He seems fine, but his blood sugar levels are extremely low, and he seems completely diluted of energy." Kitty nodded, "Speak English." Logan muttered.

"What I mean is that he's alright, but he's probably going to sleep for a while. What I'm wondering is why he was in the forest." Logan shrugged, "Don't know, when I found him, he was just sprawled out, like he'd taken a hit to the head and fallen."

Hank nodded, "We won't know for sure until he wakes up though."

"I'm goin' ta tell everyone the Elf's okay." Logan left the room and Hank checked Kurt's pulse.

"He won't wake up for a while. Feel free to stay, Kitty, call me when he wakes up or if anything changes." Kitty nodded, not taking her eyes off of her best friend.

Hank sighed and left the room, coming back with a warm, damp face cloth. He took Kitty's chin in his hand and wiped the salty tracks that had been left by her tears. Dr. McCoy smiled softly, and then left the room.

Kitty sighed, before looking back at Kurt. He seemed peaceful, but something still wasn't right, something was different, she just couldn't figure out what.

She leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek, before slipping off her shoes and climbing into the bed with him, laying her head on his shoulder and taking his hand in hers. His fur was warm and soft to the touch, softer than velvet actually.

"Please wake up Kurt." She sniffed, feeling tears trying to escape yet again.

Kitty took a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes closed.

She thought she felt Kurt's tail tighten around her wrist, but she pushed it off as a figment of her imagination.

"Katzchen?" Kitty's eyes snapped open, Kurt's voice was quiet, and a little raspy, but there was no way she could've imagined it.

"Kurt?" The elf groaned a little and his eyes slowly opened. "Vhat 'appended?"

Kitty sat up, his tail unwinding from around her wrist, and quickly ran to turn off the lights, pouring him a glass of water as she came back.

His eyes opened a little more and she saw that they were dull and barely glowing. Setting the glass on the bedside table she placed a hand behind his back.

"Let's sit you up and then we'll talk." He made a sound of agreement and allowed Kitty to sit him up.

"My throat hurts." He stated quietly. He opened his eyes, and wrapped his tail round the water Kitty had brought over. She smiled a little and let him swallow the water in two gulps.

"Back to mein earlier question, vhat happened?"

Kitty sighed, "What do you remember?" Kurt closed his eyes and sat back, scanning his memory.

"I remember, getting out of bed and valking down ze halls, zere's a faint memory of a balcony, but after zat, its blank…Did I fall or somzing?" Kitty shook her head, "No you just…disappeared, I couldn't find you, but the Professor located you in the forest."

"Vhy vould I have been in ze forest?" Kitty shrugged.

"How're you feeling now?" Kurt winced, "Veird, sore and really weak." Kitty rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Katzchen?" she didn't look up, "Keety, vhat's vrong?" He lifted her face with his tail to see her cerulean eyes were filling with tears.

She choked out a sob before throwing herself forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh God, Kurt! I was so worried about you! I thought you were gone, I thought I'd lost my best friend!" Kitty sobbed, pressing her face into his soft fur.

Nightcrawler, for his part, was shocked at Kitty's actions. Thankful his energy seemed to be returning, he wrapped his arms around her, his tail trailing up and down her leg.

"Quiet, quiet now, Katzchen, everything is okay, I'm fine."

He carefully pulled her onto his lap, letting her cry while comforting her best he could. "Please relax Katzchen, this isn't healthy for you."

Kitty put in an effort to at least try and slow her sobs, Kurt was right, she would make herself sick if she continued like this.

"That's a girl, now take a deep breath." She did so, but kept her face in his chest. "Now, another… now close your eyes."

Kurt's voice was like a song, rising and falling gently until it was the only thing that existed to her, she felt herself relaxing in his embrace.

"Good." She sighed and opened her eyes to look up at Kurt, completely calm. "Thanks."

He grinned and rubbed his nose against her cheek. She giggled at the feeling of his fur tickling her skin. "I von't scare you, if _you_ don't scare me. Deal?"

"Deal." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

When Hank came back in a little later, he found them in the same position, not talking, but enjoying the other's presence.

"Good to see you up, Kurt. You gave us quite a scare." Kurt nodded, "I don't know vhat happened." He shook his head as if to clear it.

"Well, hopefully it was just a case of sleepwalking."

"Zen vhy vas I so exhausted?" Beast didn't have an answer to that and merely gave Kurt a quick check over. "You're fine, physically, but I suggest a large meal and plenty of rest."

"Alright." Kitty stood from the bed and Kurt swung his legs over. He stood slowly, checking that he wasn't about to collapse.

"If anything happens, come straight back, even if it's just a case of dizziness." Kurt nodded again, swishing his tail a little, reflexively testing his balance.

Kitty took Kurt's hand and the two went upstairs, after a large amount of food was consumed they found themselves in Kurt's bedroom, the curtains drawn and curled up under the covers together.

Kitty point-blank refused to let Kurt leave her sight and Kurt was pretty sure what happened hadn't been sleepwalking. As a precaution, he didn't want to be alone and have it happen again, what if he left the grounds and someone saw him?

"I just remembered somezing." Kitty perked up, "What?"

Kurt closed his eyes and tried to get the details straight, "I had some sort of veird dream last night. I was in a clearing and this, vell the only way to explain it is a tear in ze air. I could see nothing but veird, flashing colors past it. Zen, someone stepped out of it. He looked sort of like me, but red. He vas tall, only had three fingers, his tail vas spaded like mine, but his actually looked sharp. His fur vas thick, and almost rough looking, like a bear's vinter coat I guess. But zen he sort of smirked at me and I could see his fangs, I don't remember vhat he vas vearing exactly, but it was almost var like and I distinctly remember there vas a skull on one of his shoulders. He reached out to me, and I couldn't move, I just stood zhere. Zen...nozzing."

Kitty shivered, Kurt's description of the man, or creature, whatever he was, was creepy and a little disturbing.

"That's more than a little scary." Kurt nodded, but then stood abruptly.

He went over to his desk and started rummaging through the drawers.

"Found it!"

He came back to the bed with a small package in his hand; it was circular in shape and wrapped in a black cloth.

"Vhen mein parents found me, zis vas around my neck. I had buried eet in ze backyard, and dug eet up vhen I left." He handed the object over to Kitty who sat up and unwrapped it, revealing a strange looking medallion. It was some sort of black gem set in a gold clasp, it was very heavy and the circumference was about the same as Logan's fist. What was _really_ weird was that that gem didn't shine in the light; it actually seemed to suck the light in, like an endless black void.

"What is it?" Kurt shrugged. "I don't know, but look on the back."

Kitty flipped the medallion over, seeing that it was actually hung from a thick brown cord. A weird symbol was on the back, half of what might be called a Star of David, was merged with a six pointed star. In the center, there was an hour-glass shape, but it was sideways. Surrounding the image were three words in a language she didn't recognize, "What does it say?" Kurt sighed, "It's in Latin, at least the first two words are, and they say Death Herald."

Kitty swallowed, "Do you know what the last word is?" Kurt shook his head, "No, it isn't in any language I recognize."

Kitty quirked her head to the side. "What languages _do_ you speak anyways?" she decided to pull the conversation away from darker subjects and Kurt appreciated the gesture, wrapping the medallion back up and placing it in his bedside table.

"Let's see…Latin, German, English, Russian, Japanese, Hungarian, French, Svedish, Havaiian, Spanish, and…oh, Italian." Kitty's jaw was slack, "You speak _all_ those languages?!"

"Fluently."

Kitty shook her head, "Okay, what else don't I know about you?" Kurt grinned, "I can fence, and am othervise handy with a sword." Kitty shook her head again, "You never cease to amaze me."

oOo

When the two went downstairs for dinner that night, they found the place to be almost completely empty, except for Logan in the kitchen with a beer and the newspaper.

"Strange time to be reading _zat_ isn't it, Herr Logan?" Kurt jumped and sat on a chair in his regular, gargoyle crouch.

Logan snorted, "Before the sun rises is a weird time to be out in the forest." He stated and flipped the page of the paper.

Kurt shrugged, but something in his eyes flashed at the mention of that morning.

"So, where is everyone anyway?" Kitty questioned as she heated up some leftovers for the two of them. "'Ro and porcupine went out to dinner, Cyke is working on his car and moping about Red going on a date, and Marie is doin' homework upstairs."

The rest of the night was uneventful; well unless you count Scott sending Duncan a death glare as the jock dropped Jean back off at the mansion.

oOo

A/N: I updated faster than normal. Yay! Anyways on another note, **the part with the symbol on the medallion and Kurt speaking a bunch of other languages is strictly **_**made up**_**. **I don't want anyone asking me where I got that information, because to answer that question would require years of therapy! XD

Please review!


	14. Bring On the Matchmakers!

Chapter 14: Bring On The Matchmakers!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing this would I?

oOo

Scott wiped furiously at the hood of his car, taking his frustrations out on invisible dirt.

"Guten Tag, Scott."

Cyclops mumbled back a greeting.

"Can I ask _vhy_ you are trying to kill your car."

Scott shook his head and Kurt sighed, "Vell I was sent to tell you zat Jean came back early and she's looking for you."

Scott's head shot up and he through the rag he had been using in a bucket before running out of the garage, sending a thanks over his shoulder to the blue elf.

Said elf shook his head in exasperation, "Zis is getting ridiculous." Before porting out.

oOo

Kitty rolled her eyes as Scott and Jean flirted outrageously throughout dinner, across from her Rogue stared at the spoon in front of her like she was contemplating murdering someone with it. Kurt was silent beside her, his eyes drooping closed as he mechanically shoveled food into his mouth. The elf had been having troubles sleeping recently.

Evan picked up his empty plate and, followed by a yawning Kurt, took their dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

Nightcrawler looked about ready to just curl up on the floor and go to sleep so Evan grabbed the boy's upper arm and dragged the unresisting mutant upstairs to be ordered to go to bed.

Ororo looked after her nephew with an amused expression as Kitty followed her friend's example before booking it upstairs to finish her forgotten homework.

oOo

Rogue looked up as the telltale sound of a 'bamf' announced Kurt's arrival in her and Kitty's room. "Hey Blue."

Kurt grinned tiredly, "Hi." He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Kitty remained asleep in her bed across the room.

As it was Sunday, a full week since Kurt was found in the forest, everyone was enjoying a day of lazing about. Now, while Saturday was the official 'tickle fight' day, Sunday was more relaxed, as was proven when Kurt crawled onto Kitty's bed with her and curled up. Kitty smiled in her sleep and moved closer to the warmth that was her best friend.

Rogue stood up and grabbed a blanket from the end of her bed, laying it over her friends. Kurt never went under Kitty's sheets so the Goth took the liberty of covering him. Strangely enough, Kurt's breathing had already evened out and he was deeply asleep, a small smile playing on his lips.

Leaving the two to their dreams, Marie fell back on her bed with 'Dracula'.

Only a few hours had passed before there was in incessant knocking on the door. Not wanting to wake up Kurt and Kitty, Marie opened the door quickly to see Evan leaning against the doorframe.

"Morning Rogue!"

She hushed him and put a gloved hand over his mouth, "Shush! Kurt n' Kitty are sleepin'."

Evan pushed her hand away from his face with an apologetic smile, "Sorry." He didn't even question why Kurt was curled up with Kitty.

"What're you doin' here anyway, Porcupine?"

Evan shrugged and dropped into Rogue's desk chair. "Jean and Scott are downstairs and if I stayed there any longer I just might have killed myself! It's worse than when Kurt and Kitty flirt!"

Rogue snorted, "Well that's ta be expected Ah guess."

Evan snapped his fingers, and let out a, "I got it!" he flinched and looked over to see that his yell had not woken up either of their friends. Thankfully, it hadn't.

"_What_ d'ya have?"

Evan grinned, "We have to set Scott and Jean up." He punched one fist into his palm and Rogue cocked an eyebrow.

"For…" she made a motion for him to carry on.

"On a date, we have to get them together." He laced his fingers together to emphasize the point.

Rogue bit her lip, "Ah don't know, Ah mean, we'd be doin' somethin' _nice_ for them."

Evan shook his head, "Yeah, but if they're together, that means they won't focus on _us_ as much." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and he was promptly hit with a pillow.

"Zat vould be mein _sister_ you are flirting vith, Evan." Kurt mock glared at the boy before falling back on Kitty's pillows as said girl giggled.

"Kurt, Ah hate ta remind ya'll, but Ah'm not your sister."

Kurt shrugged, "You're close enough."

"How long have you two been listenin'?"

Kitty shrugged and ran her fingers through the thick, soft fur on Kurt's chest, "Since Evan yelled something." She stated.

Kurt opened one eye and mock whispered, "Keep doing zat to mein fur and I'll turn into a large blue cat."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "And how is that?" Kurt smirked as Kitty continued to run her fingers through his fur, in a few minutes an almost inaudible purr came from Kurt and everyone's jaws dropped.

"Are you_purring_?"

Kurt chuckled, "Told ya so." Evan lost it and fell out of his seat laughing.

"Remind me…again why people… thought you were a…demon?!" he choked out between laughs. Marie rolled her eyes, but giggled anyway as Kurt continued to purr softly, completely unembarrassed.

Kitty smiled softly and continued her ministrations to his fur ~_He is so cute like this _~ she thought to herself.

After everyone's laughter had toned down, along with Kurt's purring, they relaxed, ignoring the sounds of the rest of the mansion waking up, in favor of laying in the dark of the girls' room.

oOo

"Phase one complete; subjects are heading to Vector twelve, over."

"I'm vright _here_."

Evan grinned at his blue friend, "Yeah, but it's more fun this way."

Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed the binoculars from around Evan's neck, holding them to his eyes and ignoring Evan coughs of protest as the strap choked him. The two boys were on the roof, watching Scott and Jean walk towards the picnic they had ever so lovingly set out. Of course, each of the teenagers were entering from opposite directions, both thinking they were just heading to a special training session with Logan.

"And what're you two doin', exactly?" speak of the devil, that very man came up behind them, surprisingly silent for someone with metal covered bones.

Evan and Kurt didn't turn away from their vigilant watch, "Trying to get Jean and Scott together." Evan stated, un-looping the binoculars from around his neck.

Logan crouched down next to them, "Exactly _how_ do you intend to do that?"

Kurt smirked, "Oh ye of little faith." He handed the binoculars to the older man who looked through them to see Jean and Scott catch sight of both each other and the picnic.

Kurt brought a walkie-talkie out from his pocket, "Shadowcat, Rogue…"

"We're here, Nightcrawler." Kitty's voice came over the device.

"Shades and Red have reached ze sight…please begin lock-down sequence."

"Affirmative, Nightcrawlah!" Rogue piped up.

"Over and out!" Kitty finished.

Evan chuckled, "Care to take the vantage point, my Germen friend?" Kurt grinned evilly before saluting Spyke and Wolverine, and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

Kurt reappeared a few trees away from where Scott and Jean were; silently he leapt from branch to branch until he was hidden above the two X Men, both of which were blushing furiously.

oOo

Jean looked everywhere but the brunette boy across from here. Catching sight of the picnic set-up she broke the silence. "Did you set this up?"

Scott shook his head violently, "No! I thought I was coming out here to train with Logan!" he defended.

Jean nodded, "Same here." They elapsed into silence again and Jean shifted from foot to foot.

A ringing suddenly broke the silence and it was coming from Scott's pocket. Pulling out his phone he flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"What? Kitty!"

"No I will not calm down!"

"Well, I just, stop changing the subject!" Scott gritted his teeth.

"Fine." He sighed and snapped his phone closed, "We've been set up."

"Huh?" Jean sat down on the blanket laid out as her feet were getting sore and Scott joined her.

"They set us up, something about us needing to talk, and they point-blank refuse to let us inside."

Jean sighed, "Might as well eat then."

Scott nodded, "What've we got?"

oOo

In the trees above them, Kurt was in near hysterics; Scott's reaction had been priceless. For the next few minutes he watched his teammates eat in awkward silence and sighed. ~_Time for Plan B. ~_ he thought.

In the branches directly above the couple, a basket had been placed. Opening it, the scent of rose poured out and Kurt grinned, these had been Kitty's idea.

Ever so carefully, Kurt tipped the basket, letting rose petals and cherry blossoms rain down on the two. Along with the flowers, there were bits of paper folded like flowers, each saying the same thing.

_You love each other, so kiss already!_

It had taken him, Kitty, Marie and Evan an hour to write them all down and fold them.

Jean and Scott both looked up, but Kurt had already disappeared.

The flowers got caught in Jean's hair, but reaching up she found that one of the flowers was actually paper. Scott had found one too, and opening them, they both blushed ruby.

Jean, nervous this would ruin her friendship with Scott, peaked into his thoughts to find himself wishing he could follow the note's advice.

With a radiant smile on her face, she leaned over and captured his lips with hers. He was surprised for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her back.

Above them, but unseen, Kurt did a back flip that ended in a teleport to the mansion entryway where the rest of their party was waiting. When the elf appeared mid-flip, Kitty cheered and Evan and Marie high-fived. Logan just shook his head with a grin, and walked into the kitchen, "Kids." He chuckled and grabbed a beer.

oOo

A/N: This was one of my favorite chapters to write and I hope you enjoyed reading it.


	15. Nightcrawler vs Avalanche

Chapter 15: Nightcrawler vs. Avalanche

Disclaimer: Kurt and Kitty would be together in the show if I owned it.

A/N: Hey, here's a surprise, another Kurtty chapter! Amazing. Don't you just love it when these things happen? I promise action will come. Oh, and just a warning, Lance lovers, you are going to _hate_ this chapter. Kurt lovers (especially Kurt beats Lance lovers) something tells me you will all be cheering when this is over, I cheered when I wrote it, and that wasn't such a good thing as I was writing it in the Library. Oops.

Quick notey-notey before I begin the chapter, this is _not_ for Lance or Lancitty lovers (neither the story, nor the chapter). So if you're just going to write "Why'd you do that to Lance?!" or "WTF?! Lance and Kitty are together in the show!" I have three words: Suck. It. Up. And stop reading (well okay that's _six_ words).

For all Lance and Lancitty _haters_ (like myself *evil chuckle*) oh, you're going to _love_ this.

oOo

Kurt tossed and turned in his bed, sweat slicking his fur down against his skin. With a choked gasp of air, the elf shot up in bed, and leapt up to the ceiling, clinging to the chandelier. His eyes flickered around the room, taking in the normal views of his bed, desk, closed balcony doors; everything was as it had been when he had gone to bed that night.

With his breathing back to normal, if a tad heavier, Kurt crawled down the wall and fell onto his bed with a groan.

That was the eighth night in a row he'd had that stupid nightmare. It seemed the only decent rest he'd gotten was on Sunday when he curled up with Kitty in her bed and he couldn't do that every night.

With a resigned sigh at the lack of the rest, he threw his legs over the side of the bed; grabbing his black t-shirt from where he'd tossed it when he got into bed, Kurt pulled it over his head and was about to open his balcony doors when he paused.

The memory of waking up in the Infirmary, with a distraught Kitty at his bedside was still firmly engraved in his mind. Not wanting to take any chances, no matter how slim they seemed, he turned and walked out into the hallway, heading to the rec. room instead.

Not bothering to turn on a light, he vaulted the back of the couch and lay sprawled along it, staring at the shadow covered ceiling.

Kurt didn't know how long he laid there before the sound of soft footsteps alerted him to someone else's presence.

"Anybody here?" a soft voice piped up which he recognized as Kitty's.

"Hey Kazchen." He greeted, sitting up and looking over the couch to see Kitty silhouetted by the moonlight that came in from a window in the hall.

"Kurt?" All she could see was a pair of glowing, yellow eyes. Walking over, she wasn't surprised when a soft hand was placed on her shoulder.

She smiled, knowing he could see it, and used her sense of touch, plus Kurt's guiding hand to go around the couch and seat herself next to him.

Cuddling into his side, she spoke, "What're you doing up this late anyway?"

She felt Kurt shrug. "Can't sleep."

"Me neither." She whispered softly.

"Vhy, might I ask?"

"Nightmare." Was her answer.

She heard him sigh, "Same here."

Kitty yawned, "I was too scared to stay upstairs, so I came down here, and I thought I heard someone come down earlier anyway."

Kurt grinned a little, "Yeah zat vould have been me."

Kitty giggled, and ran a finger over the spade of Kurt's tail where it rested on her lap, her friend's 'fifth limb' as it might have been called, was wrapped around her waist. "You wanna just stay down here for the night?" she asked, and was glad her eyes had adjusted somewhat so she could see Kurt's smile in the dim light.

"Sure." He lay back on the couch, and Kitty made herself comfortable half next to him and half on top of him. With her head on his chest she could hear his steady heartbeat. A blanket was draped over the two of them by Kurt's tail, before it wrapped itself back around Kitty.

"Nacht Katzchen."

"Night Kurt." Kitty placed a kiss on his cheek, "And thank you for staying with me."

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him, "Anytime." The two fell asleep; both much more relaxed than when they had come downstairs.

oOo

Kitty stared at the blackboard with the focus of someone searching for the meaning of life. Apparently she had found it and the meaning of life was muffins. Yep, it was the feared Home Ec. Class, and Kitty was all but begging to leave. Apparently, though, the Gods had no sense to get her out before she blew up the school and her classmates.

The bell rang shrilly, and Kitty rocketed from the room, glad to be out. Unfortunately, in her rush to leave, she all but ran into one of the new boys, a certain Lance Alvers.

"Hey, you're Kitty Pryde right?" Lance grinned while Kitty just nodded; a confused expression on her face. "Well, maybe you and I should go out sometime." He grinned again in what he must have thought was a sexy way.

"Uh, no thank you." Kitty attempted to go around him, but the boy just got in her way.

"Now, come on. Don't be like that."

Kitty glared up at him, "Would you leave me alone."

Lance shook his head, "No can do, Pretty-Kitty. So, hows about that date?"

Kitty turned and walked in the other direction, she could leave her books in Kurt's locker; besides, she had her money for Lunch with her anyway.

"Come on! One date; what could it hurt?"

Kitty turned with her fists on her hips, "Leave me alone! I don't want to go out with you, so stop following me!" she turned and all but ran down the hallway, leaving a fuming boy behind.

Kitty was still angry about her run in with Lance when she got outside, her arms empty of Lunch as she'd seen the boy in line.

She turned a corner, when someone's hand gripped her arm; she turned on her heel and viciously slapped whoever it was.

A long line of German expletives came a few milliseconds after.

Kitty's anger evaporated when she saw Kurt with a hand to his cheek, cursing in German, and Spanish, and Latin, and finally in English. "Shit, Kitty! Vhat vas _zat_ for?!"

Kitty immediately felt awful, "Oh God, I am _so sorry_, Kurt! I thought you were someone else!"

"Ach, _who_, might I ask?!" he gently touched his stinging cheek with a wince, that girl had a wicked arm.

"Lance Alvers, his been bugging me and asking me to go out with him. I am so sorry, I totally didn't mean to, are you okay?" she reached out and touched his furry cheek through the hologram.

He flinched, but nodded, "Ja, zank God for holograms and fur zough, no vone vill be able to tell if you gave me a bruise. Hate to have to explain _zat_ vone." Kitty nodded, but still felt awful. "Vhere's your Lunch."

She sighed, "Didn't get any because _he_ was in line." She crossed her arms, but any anger she had left was gone to be replaced by a sense of trepidation. She'd seen him watching her for a while now, and it was really starting to creep her out.

Kurt grinned, "Vell, I didn't get any either, so you can come vith me." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the cafeteria.

Kitty scanned the Lunchroom, but didn't find any sign of her stalker. She breathed out a sigh of relief and allowed Kurt to steer her through the Lunch line.

After having bought herself a salad and a bottle of mineral water, the two went back outside to sit underneath a tree. The Sun was bright that day and the shade was a blessed relief.

Kurt devoured his meal, while still having decent table manners. It really was quite a feat, while Kitty ate her food at a more sedated pace.

"How long has zis guy been bugging you anyvay?" Kurt asked.

"Well, he's been watching me for a while, he's followed me to my classes, at first I thought it was just a coincidence, but there's no way his schedule matches perfectly with mine. Today was the first time he spoke to me; ugh he is _such_ a _creep_!"

Kurt gave her a small smile. "Don't vorry, nozing vill happen to you. I promise."

She smiled back at him. "I'll just call you my guardian elf." She reached over and messed his hair.

"Hey! What iz zis, abuse ze Elf day?!" he chuckled and ducked away.

"No silly, it's only Tuesday…abuse the Elf day is always Friday!"

Kurt grinned and leapt away from her, "Zen I must start running now!"

Kitty giggled and jumped on him, tackling him to the ground before he could get away. "Sorry Fuzzy, but you aren't going anywhere without me!"

Kurt grinned up to her, "Is zat a promise?" he whispered softly; the line had now been blurred between playing and seriousness.

She smiled down at the boy, she could feel his fur through the shirt he wore, and while it appeared that he had five fingers, she could still count the three as they were placed on the back of her neck.

"Yeah, that's a promise." She whispered softly.

The shrill ringing of the bell shattered their moment and the two grabbed their trash to throw it away.

Kitty, much to Kurt's surprise, followed him to her locker. "I had to put my stuff in your locker, sorry."

He grinned, "Nein, not a problem Katzchen." He spun the dial and opened his locker, pulling out his friend's binder and textbooks. "See you after class zen."

She nodded and took her things, "'Kay, and Kurt?" he turned his head, "Thanks again."

He smiled, the hologram showing his fangs ever so slightly. "Anytime." She smiled at the reminder from the weekend; she'd gotten the most relaxing sleep ever that night.

With that parting smile she turned and headed back down the hallway, leaving behind a very happy elf.

oOo

Marie searched the parking lot for sign of her friends, but besides Kitty who was at her side, the boys were absent.

"Where are they?" Kitty shrugged, still searching.

"Hey Pretty-Kitty." A familiar voice sent chills up her spine, but not in a good way. She turned around to come face-to-face with Lance, who was flanked by Todd and Pietro, even if the latter was looking fairly reluctant.

"What do ya'll want?" Rogue glared at them.

"Nothing, just want to talk to Kitty."

"Well I _don't_ want to talk to you. What part of _leave me alone,_ don't you understand?" Kitty shifted the weight of her backpack to put her hands on her hips.

"Come on, Pretty-Kitty. Don't be like that." Kitty didn't want to listen to him anymore and turned to head down to the parking lot, dragging Rogue with her.

"Hey! Wait up!" Kitty quickened her pace, a little scared this time. When the pounding of Lance's footsteps didn't leave, the girls broke into an all out run, taking a sharp turn around the building in hopes of losing him.

They were nearly to a door when the ground started shaking underneath them. At the sudden loss of balance, they toppled like a house cards, nearly falling on each other.

Looking up, they saw Lance had his arms out and his eyes had rolled back almost completely in their sockets.

"Y-You're a mutant?!" Kitty was shocked.

"Yeah, and I know _you_ girls are too." Kitty swallowed, too scared to even phase. "We're part of the Brotherhood of Mutants, and I _know_ you live with that Xavier guy. You should join the Brotherhood; mutants need to rule over everything, and everyone. Not _co-exist peacefully_." he spat out 'peacefully' like it was some sort of poison.

"Look, Ah don't care who you are, or what club ya'll belong to but leave us alone!" Rogue stood, giving Lance her best death glare.

The boy gritted his teeth and opened his mouth, about to reply, before something slammed into his back with what, to him, seemed to have the force of a speeding freight train.

Lance fell to the ground hard, and whatever it was that had hit him, flipped in the air to land in a crouch in front of Kitty and Marie.

"She said _leave zem alone_!" Kurt hissed; while he still wore his hologram he looked furious.

Lance shook his head and looked up, "Who the hell are you?" Apparently, while he knew about Kitty and Rogue, he didn't have anything on Kurt.

"Nightcrawler, and if you come any closer I'll kick your ass." Kurt didn't leave his defensive position.

Lance rolled his eyes, "Well, _Nightcrawler_, I'm Avalanche, and I don't care what you say." Kurt growled, and it sounded quite strange coming from an otherwise human looking boy. Apparently, it shocked Avalanche enough for him to freeze for a second.

"I'm going to tell you vone last time. _Leave now._" Kurt ordered, but Lance simply stood, completely ignoring Kurt, and starting forward.

"You asked for it." The girls heard Kurt whisper harshly, and in one fluid movement, the hologram was down.

Several things then happened in quick succession: Lance froze, a look of fear on his face, Kurt snarled and leapt forward, dropping a swift punch to Lance's stomach, who, shocked out of his daze, swung back. Kurt ducked underneath the hit, and swiftly kicked Lance's legs out from underneath him. Falling to the ground, Lance caused a small tremor, which Kurt leapt over, disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

Avalanche looked around, wildly, but Nightcrawler was nowhere to be seen. He turned his glare on the girls, but had barely gotten his balance back when he was hit from the back yet again. He turned, but nothing was left but a quickly disappearing cloud of smoke.

He went to turn to the girls but Kurt reappeared and disappeared, nailing Lance in the chest with a two footed kick. It went on like this for a few seconds, Lance not making any headway, and Kurt remaining unseen.

By the time Kurt reappeared for the sixth time, Lance's lip was split and it would be hard to find skin underneath all the bruises that were appearing. Kurt glared at the boy who cowered, unable to stand properly.

Nightcrawler's eyes flashed as he spoke curtly, "You _never_ touch zem again." Kurt's voice was devoid of the laughter and gentleness it regularly held, and Kitty felt a small shock of fear envelope her for a second, even if he wasn't speaking to her.

Lance nodded and shuffled backwards before hightailing it away. Kurt growled and turned back on his hologram.

Evidently, he was still furious as he took Kitty's and Marie's wrists in a semi-tight grip. He all but dragged them to the car where Evan was waiting.

Spyke opened his mouth to speak when he saw them come up, but Rogue shook her head furiously and Evan snapped his jaw shut, opening the car door, allowing Kurt to send Marie in that direction. The Goth and the skateboarder jumped in the backseat, buckling themselves in and remaining dead silent.

Kurt pulled Kitty over to the passenger side of the car and didn't even pause to open the door, choosing, instead, to pick Kitty up and put her in the car. He stalked around the side and leapt in himself, starting the vehicle.

No one spoke as Kurt drove them to the mansion. Rogue exchanging notes with Evan in the backseat to explain what happened.

By the time they reached the Institute, the atmosphere was heavy and tense, Marie and Kitty still trying to come to terms with the fact that Kurt, the fuzzy elf who was always so calm and collected, had been so furious he looked every bit a demon.

Parking the car, Kurt turned it off and got out before teleporting away.

Kitty let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and got shakily out of the car. Evan got out quickly after her, taking hold of her elbow to steady her.

"I didn't know Kurt would actually do something like that." She muttered, trying to figure out why she was shaking so badly.

It came to her quickly, she was scared, absolutely terrified, and of _Kurt_. She sniffed, jumping a little when she felt Evan wipe away some of the tears that had started down her cheeks.

"The way I see it, he was pissed that that Lance guy was trying to hurt you." He whispered and Kitty nodded.

"You're right, it's just…"

"A shock?" Rogue supplemented and Kitty nodded.

"I need to talk to him."

Evan nodded, "Alright, we'll see at dinner?" Kitty nodded, trying to smile and wiped away the remaining tears on her face. She ran upstairs, deciding to start in his room.

She struck gold at that point, sticking her head through the door she saw his balcony doors were open, and beyond them, the silhouette of her best friend.

"Kurt?" she called quietly as she stepped inside, wishing she wasn't shaking so bad. "Kurt? Are you okay?" she walked outside, keeping her eyes on her friend's still frame.

Coming up beside him, she looked up to see he was staring out over the ocean, his face blank and expressionless. "Kurt?"

His eyes flickered over to her for a second before he looked down, avoiding her gaze. "I'm sorry, Keety, I didn't mean to…"

"Stop." She silenced him, "What are you sorry for? Are you sorry for protecting us?! For standing up for us?! For what?!"

"For scaring you." He whispered and looked away, his eyes glinting for a completely different reason this time.

She swallowed and placed a hand on his knee, "Yes, you scared me, you absolutely terrified me." He looked down, letting tears track down his face and through his fur. "But you also protected me, and helped me. You kept your promise."

She smiled softly. "I'm not mad at you, I'm thanking you."

He finally looked over at her and he carefully climbed off the railing, before enveloping her in a hug that she returned quite fiercely. "Ich liebe dich." He whispered into her hair.

Kitty didn't know what he was saying, but it still sent shivers up her spine, in a good way this time, she later reflected.

oOo

A/N: Chapter fifteen, what do you think? Okay, now, if you don't know what 'Ich liebe dich' means, you're going to have to wait a little while to figure it out.

Please review!


	16. Past Pain

Chapter 16: Past Pain

Disclaimer: I own an IPod not the X Men.

A/N: I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Dija miss me? Well of course you did! Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

I know that Logan was experimented on in a different way in XME than in the movies, but I prefer to use the movie version, just a quick heads up.

oOo

Cold, grey eyes stared at him through the murky liquid that he was submersed in. The foul smelling concoction was a strange green, tinged chemical and hid everything but what was in the immediate, outside vicinity.

He couldn't see anything past the man in the lab coat.

Pain rocketed through his body and he screamed into the mouthpiece that was the only thing allowing him to breathe. He wished it would all just stop, his world blurred as his bones seemed to be set of fire.

The pain left for a few seconds before coming back to life in his shoulder opposed to his leg. He was just glad they had started with his head while they did, whatever it was they were doing to him.

You would have thought, after however many God damn hours they'd been doing this, he would have become used to the pain, but it seemed no matter how times he was put under its spell, it hurt just as much as the first time, if not worse.

He continued to scream, and watched as the man outside the tank smiled coldly…

oOo

Logan sat straight up in bed, gasping for breath. After having taken in that there was no one around, he retracted the claws that had shot from his knuckles.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his face in his hands.

"Haven't had that dream in a while." He mumbled before getting out of bed and heading out of his room down to the kitchen, after _that_, he needed a beer and a little peace and quiet.

Entering the kitchen, he found he wasn't the only one having sleep troubles. If the pointed ears weren't a giveaway, then the fact that the person was hanging upside down certainly was.

"I'm not the only insomniac, huh?" Kurt twisted quickly, surprised by Logan's sudden appearance.

"Ja, nightmares." He stated as a way of explanation.

"You're not alone, Elf." Logan sighed and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

Kurt dropped into the seat across from Logan, taking a drink of Coke from the bottle he held. Logan winced, Kurt was no idiot and he knew that him and concentrated amounts of sugar and caffeine were not a good mix, so if the kid was breaking out the beverage, something must have been up.

"What's eatin' ya?" Logan flicked the cap off his beer with one claw before taking a long gulp.

Kurt sighed, his tail flipping in an agitated motion. "Just some stuff." He took a long swallow of his own drink and Logan was surprised to see he wasn't even vibrating…yet.

"Alright, just know you aren't the only one whose bin through Hell and back."

Kurt snorted and grinned, but coldly and without humor. "Oh, vreally? _You've_ been burned at the stake too?"

Logan nearly choked on his beer, "What!?"

Kurt smiled darkly, "I vas seven years old, and mein entire village attempted to burn me at ze stake because zey thought I vas a demon."

Logan sighed, "Well, I guess I don't have anything that can go against _that_…but at least be glad you weren't experimented on and put through excruciating pain." Kurt cocked an eyebrow and for the rest of the night, the two exchanged their stories, going through six bottles of Coke and six bottles of beer while they were at it.

They sat in silence as the Sun rose, and Logan reflected on what he had been told, and what he had just revealed.

~_Kid's been through Hell. ~_ He reflected on the boy who was looking more and more like a son to him every day. He smirked internally; raising Rogue had made him go soft.

"Anyone else know what you've bin through?"

Kurt smiled a little, still looking out over the horizon as the sky changed to pale pinks, oranges and yellows. "Keety." He stated and Logan nodded, not really surprised at the answer.

"Marie for me." He replied softly.

When everyone else found them in the morning, it was in the living room. Logan was snoring on the couch and Kurt had found away to lie along the top of the chandelier and was absolutely silent.

Evan cocked an eyebrow and turned to Rogue, "Is this normal?" Rogue shrugged and walked over, her Dad looked uncharacteristically peaceful. Kitty, on the other hand, went underneath the chandelier and looked up at Kurt, who also looked peaceful.

"This is _way_ too freaky for my liking." She muttered.

"How so?" Evan walked over and looked up at Kurt, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I've seen Kurt fall asleep during a movie and stuff and he _never_ looks this peaceful." Rogue smiled in her father's direction.

"I say we just leave 'em be." Kitty and Evan nodded in agreement and the three tiptoed out.

"Wonder what happened with those two?" Kitty grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

Evan shrugged, "Don't know, I mean it's not like they have anything in common."

"No…that's not entirely true; I mean, well, mah Dad was on his own for a while and so was Kurt."

Kitty blinked, Kurt's story about being burned at the stake coming back to her. "Hey, um, Rogue?" the taller girl looked up. "Did anything ever happen to your Dad, you know, like something that could have messed with his life even a few years after?"

Rogue bit her lip, "Yeah, but I'm not about to go into specifics."

Kitty nodded, "Yeah, I get that, it's just that, well, something happened to Kurt when he was a little that he still has nightmares about these days, so maybe _that's_ what they talked about."

They all exchanged looks, "It's a good possibility. Is, whatever happened to him, have something to do with how he reacted in that DR session a few weeks ago."

Kitty nodded, "Now it all makes sense." Evan muttered to himself and grabbed a glass for some milk. As he passed by the recycling, he spotted something that made his eyebrows shoot up. "Wow, whatever happened to them _must_ have been bad if they went through a six pack of Coke and beer each." Kitty choked on her water and Rogue's jaw dropped.

"Holy shit." She mumbled.

"Language, kiddo." Logan sauntered into the room, Kurt crawling along the wall after him.

"Well, when we go through tons of alcohol and caffeine in one night, what will you say?" Rogue placed her hands on her hips.

"Put it on the grocery list?" Kurt guessed and dropped onto the counter, crouching in a gargoyle like fashion.

"Ha ha, fur-ball, but stick to pranks, they work better on you than sarcasm." Evan playfully punched his friend's shoulder. Kurt grinned as everyone else turned to his or her own preparations for breakfast.

"Hey," the blue mutant whispered to Evan and Rogue, "Can I talk vith you for a minute?" They nodded and followed their friend out of the kitchen and down to the living room.

"Look, do you guys remember what happened to me in zat vone Danger Room session a few weeks ago?"

They nodded, "Yeah, somethin' happened that messed ya up and ya scared us all out of three years of our lives." Rogue replied.

Kurt took a steadying breath, "Yeah, well, there's a reason for that…" he proceeded to tell them the entire story. Rogue went even paler and Evan felt like he was going to be sick.

"Please tell me you're joking." He whispered.

Kurt shook his head, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." Rogue shook her head, but didn't get a chance to reply as Kitty walked in, closing the door behind her.

"You told them?" Kurt nodded and she walked over to wrap him in a hug.

"Everyone here's screwed up in some way then, huh?" Their attention went to Rogue.

She looked up at them with sad eyes, "You guys know Logan adopted me, right?"

"Ja, vhy?"

She sighed, "He didn't adopt meh from an orphanage, in fact Ah doubt he was _ever _plannin' on havin' kids. He found meh, when Ah was a little girl. My parents, my _birth_ parents, had always been either drunk, or not home, and they were always fightin'. One night, it got really bad and, mah dad he…he shot mah mom."

Kitty gasped silently and Evan wrapped an arm around the Goth girl's shoulders. "Ah ran, Ah just ran and Ah _literally_ ran into Logan. To this day Ah don't know _why_ he took meh in, but he did, and he's bin mah Dad evah since." She looked up, tears blurring her vision.

"I'm glad you told us, Marie." Evan whispered in her ear.

"You know you aren't alone anymore, right?" Kitty spoke up, but she seemed to be speaking to Kurt as well as Marie.

The Goth nodded, "Yeah, Ah do."

oOo

A/N: Sappy chapter much? I like how it turned out though.


	17. Family Ties

Chapter 17: Family Ties

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men.

A/N: Oh my God, ladies and gentlemen, Tortured Shadows has reached over one-HUNDRED reviews! Thank you SO much, you guys I am speechless. Special thanks goes to Kurtty for being my one hundredth reviewer and niwa-k for being the one hundred and first!

Again, thank you so much and now for the long awaited chapter 17! Oh and Kurt has a messed up family.

oOo

~X Men, you all need to get suited up and down to the garage, the Brotherhood is robbing the mall~

Six teenagers moaned at the loss of sleep as they scrambled from their beds and into the uniforms, it was Saturday night and 11:30pm.

Kurt, in particular, was quite unhappy by the events as he'd still been having troubles sleeping. He stumbled across the room to his closet to pull on his uniform, wishing for the warm arms of sleep.

He nearly fell on Jean when he reappeared in the garage after his teleportation. "Traurig Jean." (Sorry.) She looked at him concerned and grabbed his arm without hesitation as he swayed, "Are you alright?" he shook himself, "Ja, just need to vake up." He gave her a grin but she still looked a little worried.

"Alright everyone, here's the plan." Scott commanded their attention, "Just get the Brotherhood out of the mall, and try to keep destruction to a minimum." Everyone nodded and piled into the X van.

Scott sped through Bayville towards the mall; once he'd parked the vehicle outside the building they all piled out and entered the shopping center.

"This place is _creepy_ at night." Kitty muttered, moving closer to Kurt.

Rogue tugged at her gloves, "I don't like this…its way too quiet." She whispered.

"I agree, split into pairs and spread out. Be sure to keep your coms on." Scott and Jean headed down farther into the mall while Kurt and Kitty went up to check the upper levels, leaving Rogue and Evan to scope out the immediate vicinity.

~_I don't like this~ _Kurt thought, keeping all his sense alert.

Nothing could have prepared him though, when a tall, blue figure appeared in front of him. The woman didn't waste in any time in swinging a kick at his rib cage. Kurt flipped back, "What the?!" the female proceeded to throw kicks and punches in his direction, or at least she did until she pushed him into a ray of moonlight coming in the through the mall's glass roof.

She was frozen and Nightcrawler finally got a good look at her.

She had shoulder length, red hair and dark blue skin. Her eyes were a cool gold and she wore a white dress that had high slits up the sides to allow leg movement. White boots adorned her feet and Kurt couldn't help but notice that she had ever so slight fangs.

His tail lashed, the way she was staring at him made him uncomfortable and he would rather she started throwing punches again.

She stumbled back, "It's not possible."

Kurt was confused, exhausted and irritable, so he did the only thing that made sense at that time: fall to all fours and charge forward, taking advantage of his opponent's distraction, whatever it was.

Now it was him throwing the punches and her who was blocking; she wasn't even making an attempt to fight back.

"You-you _can't_ be alive!"

"Vhat are you talking about?!" she flipped back and he followed her, flipping forward.

"I saw you burned with my own two eyes!" she exclaimed.

That stopped Kurt, "Vhat- vhat do you mean?" they now stood barely a meter apart.

"In Germany, you were burned at the stake, I watched it happen! You were _dead_!"

Kurt realized, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the woman had tears falling down her cheeks. "Vhy do you even care?! Who are you?!" he shouted, his hands clenched in fists at his sides and his chest heaved.

"I…my name is Mystique, but-but I'm your mother."

There was now a strange buzzing in Kurt's ears and his mind was blank. He stared at this woman, this Mystique, unable to comprehend what she'd said.

"Nein! Nein, you _can't_ be mein mozzer! Eet's impossible!" she stepped forward, but he only retreated a few steps back.

"It's true! You can't say you don't see the resemblance."

Kurt was having troubles breathing, this woman, who was obviously part of the Brotherhood, was his _mother_?

He shook his head, "Nein, nein, nein…" he fell to his knees, still shaking his head, hugging himself.

Mystique walked up, "Son…"

"Don't come near me!" Kurt snarled and leapt back. "I'm _not_ your son! My mozzer is somevhere else on this Goddamn planet. You may have birthed me, but you _didn't_ raise me! Leave me be!" he growled out.

A shrill scream rent the air and Kurt twisted to see Kitty was fighting Avalanche. This fueled his anger and red tinged his vision. Mystique gasped silently, seeing the boy's face twist into an ugly snarl. He looked so similar to his birth father at that point, (the only man that had _ever_ scared her) that she stepped back.

Nightcrawler paid no attention to her though and simply fell to all fours again, running all out to tackle Avalanche, snarling like a wild animal.

"You!" Kurt didn't hear him, choosing instead to throw a hard punch at his gut. The boy dodged, just barely and retreated as fast as his feet could carry him.

Nightcrawler was gone, literally, his sanity had left him some time back and now he attacked anyone that wasn't one of his team members with a terrifying ferocity. He only halted his attack when he caught sight of Mystique in his peripheral vision.

He growled and bamfed in front of her. "What _happened_ to me?!"

She glared at him, "Show some respect!"

He laughed coldly, and slightly manically, "Respect? I'll show you _respect!_" he lunged at her, but she flipped away and he fell into a roll before leaping at her again. Evidently, she hadn't been expecting that, as her dodge was slow and he was able to clip her enough that she was thrown off balance.

He glared at her and two pairs of gold eyes met.

"Kurt!" Rogue's shout shocked them both from their dazes and Mystique for the second time appeared shocked.

"How on Earth?" she whispered, taking in Rogue's form.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Kurt was fairly fed up by this time. "Rogue too?"

Mystique shook her head, "I adopted her and left her with some friends, I thought she would have a good home."

Kurt snarled, "You left her with a pair of assholes you bitch!" he jumped at her, letting his fury control his actions.

"Kurt stop!" Rogue ran forward, jumping on Kurt from behind and placing a bare hand on his cheek. She screamed as her mind was assaulted by his memories and thoughts. She only pulled away when Kurt went limp and by that time, Mystique had disappeared.

Marie looked down at the older boy that she held cradled to her chest, "Ah'm sorry, Kurt."

oOo

The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room as Rogue looked down at the still form of her friend. She'd been silent ever since Evan and Kitty had found the two of them.

"Kid?" Marie didn't even look up as her father made himself known, "Marie?" she looked up then as Logan placed his hand on her shoulder. "What happened, Marie?" he sat next to her in another chair.

"Ah had to touch him, just ta make him stop. He," she took a shuddering breath, "He was so _angry_, Dad, he was furious and…it scared me. Ah have him in mah head, and Ah have some of his memories. He was put through _so much_." Her voice became faint.

"I know, kid, I know."

She shook her head. "That woman, that _Mystique_, she-she's his mom."

Logan froze, "What?"

"She's his birth mom, that's what made him so angry and… and she adopted me when I was little, and she left me with those people." Rogue started to break down and sob into her hands, "Dad, he _is_ mah brother." She whispered faintly, all those times Kurt had called her his sister, he'd been right, but was that a good thing?

"Listen to me." Logan took her by her shoulders and turned her to face him, "I don't give a flying rat's ass who adopted ya when ya were a baby, alright? Youare_ my_ daughter, and nothing is _ever_ going to change that."

She nodded, "Alright."

Logan nodded and pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. "As for Kurt, he'll be alright, he just needs time."

She nodded again, but bit her lip. "Ah want to be here when he wakes up."

"I get that; I'll be back in a little while." He stood and left the room, giving her a reassuring look as he left.

Marie looked back at her older brother only to see his eyes flutter open and he sat up, not sparing her a glance. "Kurt? Kurt I'm sorry, please speak to me."

"Zhey're isn't anyzing to talk about." He muttered and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Kurt, stop, you could get hurt."

He glared at her and pushed by her. "Zat isn't any different zan usual." He opened the door and stalked out, surprisingly steady.

Kurt walked down the hallway and into the elevator clad in a pair of black sweats and nothing more. There was still a strange buzzing at the back of his mind and every muscle in his body ached, but nothing could compare to awful feeling of knowing who his real mother was. It felt like someone had carved a deep gash into his skin and then rubbed salt into it with lemon juice sprinkled on top just as an added bonus.

Once the elevator had reached the main floor, he stalked out and upstairs to his room. He was nearly there when Kitty ran through a wall and into his chest.

When she came in contact with something blue and soft she jumped. "Kurt! You're alright." He barely spared her a glance and just walked around her to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Shadowcat stared after him before following and knocking on the door before entering.

"Just leave me alone, Keety." She winced at the cold tone of his voice.

"I'm not here to talk Kurt; I can see you don't want to. I'm here to give you some company." She walked over to the bed; his back was facing her as he lay on top of the covers. She lay down next to him and wrapped her arms around his lithe form.

Kurt didn't move or react to her presence in any way for a few minutes until he turned to face her. "She's mein mozzer." He whispered.

"Who?"

"Zat Mystique. She's mein birth mozzer. I can't believe it."

Kitty hugged him tightly, "It doesn't matter who your parents are, it only matters who _you_ are." It may have sounded corny, but it was true. "My parents are stuck up and think they're better than everyone else…Am _I_ like _them_?"

Kurt shook his head, "Vhat, Katzchen, zhere is no vay you could ever be stuck up."

She smiled at him, "And I was raised by them, Kurt, she didn't raise you, your _parents_ did." She of course meant the parents he'd had in Germany. "I was coming down to check on you when I met up with Marie, she's you little sister, huh?"

He nodded "I guess so."

"Well, you already called her your sister before; this just makes it a little more official." She grinned up at him, and slowly a smile spread over his face.

He sat up and stared across the room at his refection in the mirror, "I just can't believe it, if she's mein mozzer, whose mein fazzer?"

Kitty shook her head, "Don't dwell on it, please? For me?" her eyes were wide and pleading, Kurt wasn't supposed to be this down, it wasn't right.

"Alright, I promise, Engel."

"What does Engel, mean?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Angel."

She blushed, "I'm no angel."

"On the contrary, you are indeed, mein Engel." He hugged her tightly and nuzzled her hair. She smiled and hugged the elf tightly, "Danke, for being stubborn and not leaving." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Anytime, Fuzzy."

"Let's go tell everyone you're okay."

He sighed, "Vhy do _I_ alvays end up in hospital?"

Kitty shrugged, "Don't know, but your building up a load of karma points."

He chuckled at that. "Just let me throw something else on." She nodded and let him get changed. When she turned back around he was in the clothes that went with his hologram, minus the over shirt.

"Come on, I'm starving." She giggled and took his hand, phasing them through his door, he didn't even blink he was so used to the feeling of walking through a wall of water.

"Hang on, do you know vhere Marie is?"

She smiled, "Our room, probably." He nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist before they disappeared in a cloud of smoke to reappear in Kitty and Marie's bedroom.

Marie had thrown herself across her bed and Evan was seated in her desk chair, spinning himself around slowly. When they appeared, Kurt stumbled and tightened his grip on Kitty, "Note to self, don't port on an empty stomach." He shook himself and smiled thankfully at Kitty before letting go of her and pouncing on Rogue in a catlike fashion.

She yelped and they both tumbled off the bed, landing on the ground with Kurt on top, leaning over and grinning broadly.

"Guten Tag kleine Shwester!" she stared up at him, "That means hello little sister!" he stated softly.

She smiled then and playfully pushed Kurt off her. "Gerroff me, fur ball." She grinned and pounced on him and the siblings rolled around, both attempting to gain the upper hand.

Evan stared at them for a while before turning to Kitty, "I'm guessing we have _you_ to blame for his bizarre mood swings."

She shrugged, "I'm just _that_ good, now come on; help me stop them before they break something."

The four somehow ended up in the kitchen, big shocker there, listening to the news, which actually had nothing on the fight at the mall the night before.

"People vreally are dense, huh? I mean, how could zey not notice zat somezing happened last night?"

Evan shook his head, "I don't know, maybe the Professor did something."

"Naw, people are just that stupid." Logan strode in, wiping grease from his hands with a rag.

"Interesting." Kitty stated before taking a dishcloth and whipping Logan's hands with it. "Wash that grease off before you go touching anything." Kurt bit his lip to keep from snickering at Logan's expression, but the man shrugged and washed the black substance off before grabbing a beer from the fridge.

The gruff man looked over the teens, taking in Marie and Kurt who were seated side by side; he also took notice of Kurt's tail that was snaking its way over to an unknowing Evan.

He turned and just as he walked out of the kitchen the expected "Kurt!" followed by laughter and a few crashes came from the room.

~_The girl is a miracle worker~_ Logan thought; it was a well-known fact that Kitty was usually the only one to knock Kurt from his dark moods, and vice versa.

oOo

A/N: Yes I know that one part in Kurt and Mystique's confrontation was from the show, I did that on purpose.


	18. Nightmares Become Reality

Chapter 18: Nightmares Become Reality

Disclaimer: Me no own but **ARTISTIC LICENSE HAS BEEN TAKEN.**

A/N: The first part of this chapter is _very_ similar to the last chapter, but I needed to get some relationships established and this was the best way to do so.

I am _so_ sorry for the late update, I meant to have this up yesterday, but weather warnings had me off the computer and in the basement. Yeah, if you want more information, search Big Valley Jamboree, Camrose, stage collapse, and you'll have an idea as to why I was in the basement.

oOo

_Shrill screams rent the air, there was the feeling of free fall, bursts of flame and the sound of an explosion chilled him to the core…_

Scott woke with a start, beads of sweat on his forehead. He panted heavily and looked around his room before falling back in his bed with a sigh. That horrible memory of the plane exploding always haunted his dreams. He climbed out of bed and started down the hall.

Passing by Kurt's room he heard muffled muttering.

"Kurt?" he knocked twice before turning the handle and entering the younger boy's room. "Kurt?" he blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the dim light, only to see Kurt thrashing around in his sleep.

The teen's actions alarmed Scott and he wasted no time in rushing over to the boy's bed and grasping his shoulders.

"Wake up Kurt; come on it's just a nightmare!" The appearance of two, glowing golden eyes told Scott the mutant had awoken. "Kurt? Are you alright?"

Kurt panted and looked around with wide eyes, "Scott?"

"Yeah, are you okay? You didn't answer me."

"Ja, I'm fine…I think." He added as an afterthought.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes, "Vhy me?" he muttered to himself.

Scott slung an arm around his teammate's shoulders. "Come on, let's go downstairs." Kurt nodded and let the older boy lead him down to the kitchen.

Scott went around the kitchen, gathering things for hot chocolate, once the drink was completed he set a mug down in front of Kurt and sat across with one for himself.

"Whenever I had nightmares back at home, my mom would make me and Alex hot chocolate and we'd stay up all night together." He smiled sadly at the mug in his hands, caught up in memories.

"What about your fazzer?" Scott looked up to see Kurt staring at him questioningly, but not judging.

"He died when I was a kid, he was a test pilot, we were out for a flight and one of the engines caught fire. He died in the explosion."

"I'm sorry."

Scott shook his head, "Thanks…That's what my nightmares are about."

Kurt sighed, "In mine…I'm being burned at ze stake…again." Scott looked up sharply, "I vas seven, mein parents thought I vas dead and left, I never found zem." He finished quietly.

"I'm sorry." He mirrored the boy's earlier words. Kurt managed a forced grin.

"Life sucks, huh?" Scott brought his drink to his lips.

"Vithout a doubt." The grin he shot the older boy was real this time.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kurt nodded. "Do you hate me?"

Kurt looked shocked and shook his head, "Hate is a strong vord, all admit zat I did not like you in ze beginning, mainly because you never gave me a reason to." Scott nodded at that and looked abashed, "I actually though ve vere friends."

Scott smiled, "Yeah, I thought that too." Kurt grinned and the two put their fists together. "Friends?"

The German nodded, "Definitely." He took a sip of his drink. "So, vhere _is_ home, Scott?"

"Hawaii, with my mom and Alex."

"Alex is you leetle brozzer, right?"

Scott nodded, "Yep. What about you?" no one had really given him any specifics when the blue boy came, his accent was a clue, but he could've just ended up there in the long run, where his actual home was, was unknown to the older mutant.

"Germany." He stated smiling, confirming Scott's thoughts, "Eet's absolutely beautiful, mountains so tall zey get lost in ze clouds, rolling pastures, lush meadows and forests…just breathtaking."

He grinned. "Vhen I vas little, I couldn't go into town and run around with ze other kids, so I amused myself by exploring the forest around mein house. I vould flip from branch to branch, climb ze trees, I vould even pretend I vas in the circus and bow to my adoring fans." He chuckled and Scott laughed along with him.

"Not much has changed I see…you know except for the fact that now you actually have people applauding from time to time."

Kurt grinned. "It's fun, vhat can I say?"

The two sat in silence, the only noise breaking the silence was the pitter patter of water on glass as it started to rain, a now normal weather occurrence as far as anyone in the mansion was concerned.

"Hey Scott?" The boy pulled his gaze from the window over to his friend to see him grinning at him, "Zank you." Scott smiled and raised his drink to Kurt, who did the same in turn.

oOo

Kurt shook his head, that was the third time this class he'd zoned out for no apparent reason, and he _needed_ to focus.

~_I blame the lack of sleep._~ It was true, he had failed in sleeping more than two hours at night, every night for the past three weeks, nothing he did worked, he'd tried exhausting himself in the DR, sleeping pills and he was getting quite close to going down to the Med. Wing and asking for a sedative. Plus, any and all sleep time he got was filled with nightmares that he never remembered when he woke up.

The bell rang and Kurt got out of his seat, sluggishly throwing his things in his bag before heading down to his locker.

He spun in his combo and was in the process of putting his books away when two certain girls walked up, "Hey Kurt!" the hologram covered teen looked over to see his best friend and his foster sister weaving through the thin crowd toward him. He tried to give them a smile, but he couldn't find any energy to move the extra muscles and settled on a tired grin.

"You look like crap."

"Danke, Katzchen, zat's something everyone vants to hear." He actually managed a small smile this time.

"Seriously, are you all rahgt?" Rogue placed a gloved hand on his arm, only to find him shaking, "Kurt, what's up."

He blew out, "Just, didn't get any sleep last night."

"Or the day before, or the day before that or the day. Before. _That_." Evan strode up. "He hasn't slept at all the past few weeks, he is far from alright." The former African leveled a glare at his friend.

"Don't lie, fur ball, you know you can't." Evan smirked at that even as Kurt grimaced.

"Alvright, so I haven't been sleeping vell."

Rogue rolled her eyes, "Ah've lived with a chronic insomniac for most of mah life and even _he_ gets more sleep than you." Evan shook his head and pulled his friend, with little effort, down the hall towards the Lunch room and over to where Scott and Jean were seated.

Kurt couldn't actually find it in himself to care anymore at that point what happened, if they told him to go under the table and sleep, he would do so.

"Scott, we have a problem."

The boy was immediately in 'leader mode' "What's up?"

"Simple, Kurt's about to pass out." Kitty stated.

Jean looked around the room before putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Outside it is then." The group walked out into the cloud covered sunlight. It was getting closer to winter and the temperature was lowering so there was hardly another student in sight.

Jean led them over to an enclave of trees and turned to face them. Kurt yawned and leaned against Rogue, letting her support him.

"Okay, people, mah blue furry brothah is about to collapse, any suggestions?"

Jean nodded, "Let's see if I can figure out what's been keeping him up." The red head placed her hands on the sides of Kurt's head and closed her eyes, taking advantage of Kurt's sleep deprived mind and weakened mental shields.

Flashes of his nightmares passed her and suddenly, she _was_ him; there were screams of pain, dark shapes and even darker laughter.

Fire surrounded her, taunting yells, pain laced through her body, she was curled up and wishing to die, everything hurt. Why did this happen to her?

Jean gasped, falling back to herself, and jumped away, right into Scott's arms.

"What happened?"

"What did you see?" these questions were thrown at her, but her eyes were trained on Kurt.

It happened quickly, in one second, the Sun was completely covered, and everything went dark, like an eclipse. There was a flash of red, and a loud rushing noise before everyone was knocked off their feet and to the ground.

Kitty blinked, but all she could see were the outlines of the trees and her fallen friends. She opened her mouth to speak, but then something appeared in the middle of their group. It was just as Kurt had described it, a tear in the air, with colors flashing beyond it.

Something stepped out of the tear and Kitty bit her lip, holding in a scream of terror.

The man looked like an eviler version of Kurt, deep, blood red fur, thick and coarse looking in texture, covered his body. His eyes were endless black voids and long canines were shown as he snarled at the teenagers before him. He was dressed in old, war like armor a large, fanged skull rested on one of his shoulders, and in the center of the breastplate, there was _that_ symbol: the half Star of David, melded with a six point star and the sideways hourglass in the center.

The sound of a low groan penetrated her shocked mind and she looked over to see Kurt pushing himself up, it was only then that she noticed his hologram had fallen and that medallion hung from around his neck.

~_Why is he wearing that?!~_

Kurt shook himself and looked up, it was only then that she noticed his eyes had gone completely gold and held none of their regular fire or life.

"Rise my son." The demon man growled out.

Acting like a mindless zombie, Kurt stood his face blank of emotion.

"Come, now, my Herald, I have a world to conquer." Kurt walked forward and Kitty found her voice.

"Kurt! Stop!"

The man turned to her, his eyes flashing with amusement, "What's this? The little human has become _friends_ with the Herald of Death? Now this _is_ interesting." Kitty swallowed but stood, not wanting to be looked down on like a bug.

"What do you mean, _Death Herald_?" the man smirked and placed a hand on the unmoving Kurt's shoulder.

"Why my dear, you haven't figured it out already? I am Azazel, I'm the devil himself!" he laughed coldly, sending shivers up Kitty's spine.

"My dear, you know who his mother is: the beautiful mutant Mystique…Well, don't you see the family resemblance? _Your_ Kurt is _my_ son!" Kitty felt her jaw slacken.

"Yes, yes, I know, hard to believe this boy is the son of a God, but it's true, despite how he's been raised." he looked down at Kurt with an unnamable expression on his face. "Well, as much as I would like to regale you with his history, I really do have a deadline to make." The tear reappeared in the air and the two walked back into it.

Kitty was frozen in her place until the Sun reappeared and with it, her friends awoke.

Evan groaned and rubbed his sore skull, "Whoa, what happened?" Everyone else's reactions were similar, and it was a few seconds before they realized that one: Kurt was missing and two: Kitty was pale, and shaking, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Kitty? Kitty what happened?" Jean stood and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, while bringing the other hand to her head. She watched in super speed what had just occurred and passed the information along to the others in a stupefied calm.

"Wait! So, Kurt is basically the son of Satan?!" Kitty nodded her head.

"But, how does that work?!" Rogue shook her head, not exactly getting the concept that her brother was the son of evil incarnate.

"We need to get to the Professor…_now_." Scott's sentence made everyone bolt down the path and to the parking lot where his car was parked. The next few minutes were a blur as they raced home, Scott didn't even turn his car off as they ran upstairs, screaming for Ororo, Logan and Charles as they went.

The adults heard their panicked yells and met up with them in the entranceway.

"What the hell's goin' on?!" Logan boomed, but Charles merely swept their minds.

"Oh my God." He whispered faintly, causing everyone to fall into silence. After Storm and Wolverine had been informed everyone simply stood there, unable to figure out what to do.

"What now?" Jean was the one that broke the silence.

Charles took a breath, "Get suited up, I'm going to try and locate Kurt. Ororo, search the Library for any information regarding Azazel or demons in any way." The weather witch nodded and disappeared up the stairs as everyone else ran to get on their uniforms before joining Ororo in the library.

Together, they all searched the large collection, but it was Evan that finally found what they were looking for.

"I got it!" he exclaimed and everyone appeared around him as he read out the passage.

"_Azazel has been called by many names throughout time, these names include, but are not limited to: the Devil, Satan, Dem__on, and the Harbinger of…the End."_

Kitty shuddered, remembering what the man had called Kurt. And _the End_? Please don't let that mean what she thought it did…

"_Azazel was said to have been banished to an alternate dimension by the Angels millennia ago. Since then, legends have said that he would return, before first fathering the Herald of Death. The arrival of this demon 'Herald' would foresee his return. With the Herald's__ assistance, he would rain chaos across the planet, before ruling…for eternity."_

Evan's voice trembled as he spoke from the text.

"What book is that, Evan?" Logan questioned.

"It's an old book of legends, this one's Aztec." Scott read out.

Logan cracked his knuckles, "Alright, then that's where we need to go, from the sounds of it, there's going to be some kind of ritual that includes Kurt. If this is an Aztec legend, it will probably be at one of their temples, the only question is…which one?"

"I have that covered, my friend, Kurt is in South America, and as you deducted, near an Aztec temple. We need to get there as fast as possible."

Within the next few minutes everyone was piled in the X Jet, with Logan at the controls.

"What's going to happen to him?" Kitty whispered and everyone exchanged glances.

"I don't know." Rogue whispered, putting an arm around the younger girl. Kitty closed her eyes, trying to stop her thoughts from going in negative directions, but nothing she did could stop her course of thought.

~_He's the Herald, we're going to have to kill him.~_ she knew it, they would have to kill Kurt because it was only with his help that Azazel would be able to take over the world.

Kitty thought back to how Kurt had been when Azazel appeared.

~_He was under Azazel's control! There's no way Kurt would do any of that of his own free will! ~ _She realized Kurt's eyes had been blank, like when the Professor spoke with them using his powers, he had no way to push away the mind advances of his…_father_.

It didn't matter though, she realized, Kurt was still going to have to die, and it was going to be one of them that drew the final blow.

oOo

A/N: Yep, that would be a cliffhanger! Aren't I wonderful?


	19. The Herald and the Harbinger

Chapter 19: The Herald and the Harbinger

Disclaimer: Story owned by me, nothing else.

oOo

The jet landed in a dense, green forest, over the tops of the trees you could just see a large stone structure, and that was where they were headed. They drove on the quads, dodging trees and racing through a couple streams until they reached the temple.

The large building, while crumbling slightly, was still structurally sound and at the very top, there were two faint figures; one red and the other blue.

~_Kurt! ~_ Evan stepped up the speed on their quad and they raced forward, just noticing that the Sun was starting to black out.

"We're too late!" Jean called.

Kitty gritted her teeth as they skidded to a stop at the base of the temple. She jumped from her seat. "Jean, Storm, get me up there!" The two women looked at her like she was crazy, "JUST DO IT!" she snapped and the two females set to work.

Storm generated a strong gust of wind to lift her, Jean kept her steady. Kitty was lifted from the ground and was at the top of the pyramid within a few seconds, and she was also face to face, with Azazel, Kurt lurking behind his father.

The red demon snarled at her, "You _never_ learn, do you?"

She leveled a glare at him, "No, you just have my best friend…now let. Him. Go." She commanded evenly, not really expecting him to give in, but more stalling for time.

Azazel rolled his eyes, or at least, it looked like he did, "Your best friend was nothing more than my puppet waiting for me to pull the strings, girl. Leave now, you bore me." He waved his hand dismissively and turned to an altar that Kitty had just realized sat at the dead center on the roof.

Strange symbols and tall columns, that must have held up some kind of dome at one point, circled the altar, and Kurt continued to stand there, blank eyed and expressionless.

She decided to try a different approach, "Kurt! Kurt I _know_ you're in there! It's me, Kitty! You know me, come on Kurt! Wake! Up!"

Azazel sighed, "You are breaking my concentration, human! _Muerte_ (Death), dispose of her!" Kitty snapped her attention over to what had formally been her best friend.

He no longer looked like Kurt Wagner, or even Nightcrawler, but the crouched, snarling being that stood across from her looked like a demon, and for the first time, Kitty feared for her life.

With a savage growl, Muerte leapt forward and charged at her, eyes blazing with blood lust. Kitty's breathing came in gasps and pants and her vision had fuzzed out so the only thing existing was Kurt.

What remaining breath she had rushed out of her body as Muerte pounced on her growling down at her. Kitty looked up at the creature with tearful eyes, she saw his fangs glistening in the waning light, much longer than before, pearly white and sharp.

As he lowered his head, most likely to rip out her throat, she tried to contact him one last time.

Whispering softly, she looked into the creature's eyes, hoping to find some sign of her Fuzzy Elf. "_Please_, Kurt, you don't want to do this. Please, it's me, it's Kitty." He lowered his head, growling quietly.

"It's your _Katzchen._" She whispered finally closing her eyes, expecting to feel fangs at her throat, instead, she heard a sharp intake of breath, and opened her eyes ever so slightly.

She wanted to burst into tears; the demon's eyes were no longer completely gold, or filled with blood lust. Now they were back to normal and filling with tears of their own.

"Katzchen…" his voice was a choked whisper and she nodded. "Danke, danke Katzchen." He dipped his head and kissed her forehead quickly, before, in one quick move, he turned and ran at Azazel, snarling.

The red demon turned, only to be slammed back into a pillar, a furious Nightcrawler pinning him there.

"You bastard." Kurt snarled.

Azazel barred his fangs and leapt at Kurt, but the boy's training kicked in and he leapt out of the way to stand in front of Kitty protectively.

"You _will_ follow my command."

Kurt glared at him, "I'd rather kill you to be honest." Kurt leapt, all the time dodging Azazel's attacks, and attempting to get in a few of his own.

Shadowcat watched it all in a stunned silence.

"Kitty!" the brunette turned to see the rest of the X Men running towards her haven climbed all the way up the temple stairs.

"What's going on?!" Logan seemed stunned as he helped Kitty up.

The girl smiled brilliantly, "I got through to him, he's back."

"And pissed apparently." Spyke added watching the showdown going on in front of them.

Kitty turned back in time to watch Azazel get thrown into a pillar that, having taken too much of a beating, collapsed. Kurt stood across from him, panting heavily, with the upper part of his uniform gone and a shallow gash across his chest that bled sluggishly.

Everyone watched as father and son, for lack of a better term, proceeded to kick the other's ass.

There was a collective wince as Kurt was smashed back into one of the few remaining pillars. The elf groaned in pain as Azazel strode forward quickly, murder in his eyes. The red demon lifted Kurt up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him to the side with a smirk.

"Oh that's _it!_" Scott yelled, sending a blast at the devil.

Azazel turned with a growl but was promptly silenced as a long spike missed him by a hair's breath. Evan held out his fists, from which several deadly spikes were ready to be fired. "Big mistake." he ground out, flinging several more of the sharp projectiles.

Azazel dodged, but Jean just smirked and sent him back with a blast of telekinesis. The man growled angrily and clenched his fists, black energy beginning to crackle around him.

As Ororo brought her powers into play, the sky darkened with storm clouds and lightning flashed, coming closer every time it hit.

"Get the Elf out of here!" Logan commanded Shadowcat and Rogue as he slashed at the red demon with his claws.

The two girls ran in the weakened boy's direction, only to be stopped by Azazel as the man broke away from his attackers.

"No one is going to stop me! Especially not some _mere_ humans!" he gave a sweep of his hand and all the X Men were frozen.

"How about a half demon?" an angry voice replied. Kurt stood tall, beaten and bleeding, but with the lightning in the background, the effect was amazing.

Azazel smirked and spoke condescendingly, "_Half_ demon being the key word there, boy."

Kurt smirked himself, but with a slight touch of humor, "Meaning I have more humanity…and am _much_ better looking." Kurt crossed his arms, grinning grandly.

The response seemed to catch Azazel off guard, which had been Kurt's plan exactly as the blue mutant disappeared in a flash of black smoke, "Get ready for the King of all headaches!" he declared, grabbing Azazel by the shoulders, the two disappeared in a cloud of sulfuric smoke, and as they disappeared, the X Men were released from Azazel's hold.

The team fell to the ground, groaning softly, before getting up and looking around for their missing team mate.

"Where'd they go?" Evan questioned in a worried tone.

Kitty rubbed her head while still searching wildly for her best friend. "Jean, can you-"

"Already on it." Jean closed her eyes, and contacted the Professor.

~Professor, can you find them? ~

~No need Jean, Kurt will be returning any second. ~

Her eyes snapped open, and just as they did, Kurt reappeared, Azazel-less.

The boy swayed, looking pale and drawn.

"Kurt!" Kitty rushed forward, catching him as he tumbled to the ground. She sat slowly pulling him to her chest, pushing his sweat slicked hair off his forehead, "Kurt?"

He cracked one eye open, "Like to see him…get out of…zat." He mumbled, closing his eyes again and groaning, "Never leave?" he whispered only for her ears.

She nodded and smiled through her tears, "Never leave."

He smiled, revealing his fangs to be back to normal, still sharp as always, but not freakishly long anymore. She dipped her head and pressed a kiss at the side of his mouth, hugging him to her, never wanting to let go.

The pounding of footsteps proceeded to arrival of the rest of the X Men, "Kitty…Is he?" Rogue came forward, shaking badly at the sight of her bloodied brother in Kitty's arms. She looked up, giving them a beautiful smile, looking like an angel even covered in dirt and blood.

"He's alive."

There was silence for a few seconds before a loud cheer went up from them all. Scott pulled Jean to him in a passionate kiss, Evan had taken Rogue's hands and they were spinning in a circle like children, while Logan had grabbed Ororo, to her great surprise, and hugged her tightly, swinging her around.

After everyone had calmed down somewhat, (they were all still grinning like idiots), Logan carefully picked up Kurt, letting a proud smile grace his features as he looked at the boy, and the group trouped back to the jet, and a waiting Professor.

Once everyone was strapped in, Evan remembered something that put a damper on their mood, "What happened to Azazel?" their smiles were gone and they all turned to the Professor who continued to smile.

"Kurt teleported with him, as far as he could go and then some, he did that several times and in quick succession, Azazel is currently stuck in some dimension that Kurt left him in. Even if Kurt were to teleport right now, Azazel would never find his way back, as the quick teleports put so much stress on his body that he was killed."

Where she was sitting next to Kurt, Kitty ran a hand through his hair, proud of her friend.

"So, we don't have to do anythang ta Kurt?" Rogue questioned hopefully.

Charles smiled and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I wouldn't dream of it, my dear." This lightened everyone's mood considerably and they all sat in silence, relaxed smiles on their faces now that the danger had passed.

oOo

It turned out that aside from the cut on his chest and extreme energy deprivation, Kurt was completely fine, much to everyone's relief.

While the blue mutant was still sleeping it all off, he had a visitor almost constantly, the most often being Kitty, who would just sit, watching him, usually stealing a book from his room (in English of course) and reading, enjoying the notes he wrote in the margins and how he underlined his favorite passages.

Kitty sat in a chair next to the bed Kurt was lying in, her legs tucked up underneath her and a book on her lap. She giggled at one of his notes.

"Vhat's so funny?"

Kitty nearly dropped the book, retaining enough control to place it on the bedside table before jumping on the slowly awakening Kurt and hugging him tightly, "You're awake!"

"Choking, not breathing!" he managed to utter and she sheepishly pulled away, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry."

He grinned, "Nein, not a problem, Katzchen."

She smiled at his name for her, feeling a rush of affection for him. "How're you feeling?"

He grinned wider and stretched his arms above his head, "Like I could eat the sofa and still be hungry." he replied cheekily. She rolled her eyes, even after a near death experience, he would still be Kurt.

"I'm glad you're okay." She whispered and Kurt's cheeky grin turned into a soft smile.

"I have _you_ to zank for zat." She looked up and he was suddenly focused on his tail which he was fiddling with on his lap.

"Vhen I vas under his control, I could see everything happening, but I couldn't do anything about it, and…I didn't _vant_ to." He glanced up briefly, "Zat's how much control he had over me…zen you vere zere, I could hear you, but his voice was still stronger. Vhen he told me to attack you, I had a moment of hesitation, but I still ran at you…I vas about to _kill_ you Keety." He whispered softly and she felt that it wasn't her time to speak so she held her tongue.

"Zen you vere speaking again, and I could _hear_ you, I heard you pleading, but I didn't do anything…but then you said, you said it vas _your Katzchen_…_zat's_ vhat finally got through to me, so Danke Keety." He finally looked up to see Kitty crying, but a beautiful smile on her face.

She stood and sat next to him before wrapping her arms around him in a hug that he returned fiercely. "I don't _ever_ want to lose you." She whispered in his ear.

"I promise, Katzchen, you never vill." He nuzzled her neck making her emit a soft giggle. "Ich liebe dich." He spoke softly and her breath caught, the emotion in those words was unmistakable.

She pulled away, looking into his eyes and seeing nothing but pure love in them…directed at _her_. She smiled and rubbed her nose against his. This time he chuckled and his tail slipped around her waist.

He grinned wolfishly, "Now, about zat kiss…" she cocked an eyebrow before remembering the kiss she'd given him, the one that had been _so_ close to his lips.

"Yeah…what about it?" she tried to act nonchalant, but her heart was thumping, hoping she was reading him right.

"Vell…your aim vas off." She smiled and would have replied…if he hadn't caught her lips with his.

She was startled at his forwardness, but fell into the kiss, wrapping her arms around her neck.

~_Guess near death experiences do have some effect on him.~_ some strange part of her mind piped up and she promptly told it to shut up, wanting to enjoy the feeling of Kurt lips on hers.

For such a fierce fighter, his kiss was incredibly gentle, feeling out every motion that caused her to moan in pleasure. His kiss was passionate and filled with love, and she suddenly had a feeling she knew what 'Ich liebe dich' meant. They pulled apart only when the need for oxygen became apparent.

"Wow." She was able to get out before she captured him in another kiss…you know, just to make sure she hadn't imagined the whole thing.

Thoroughly satisfied she wasn't dreaming Kitty pulled away, slowly.

He smiled at her, "Good to know I'm loved." She said coyly and wasn't disappointed when he smiled goofily.

"Zank _Gott_ you can read me so vell." He kissed her lips quickly, "And just so ve're clear, 'Ich liebe dich' means I love you."

She nodded, but that didn't stop her heart from racing, "I love you too." She closed her eyes as he embraced her, taking in his warmth and comforting presence, the presence she'd felt when she first met him.

That moment in the old run down church seemed so long ago, they'd been through so much in only a few months. She smiled; now, all they had to do was get Logan and 'Ro together…

oOo

A/N: Well I hoped that the climax reached everyone's expectations. Let me know what you think will you.


	20. Pryde

Chapter 20: Pryde

Disclaimer: No own.

A/N: Major fluff chapter!

oOo

Kurt stared up at the ceiling, a blissful smile on his face; the main reason for it was lying across his chest fast asleep.

Kitty was wrapped protectively in his arms, deeply asleep, a feat which he had been achieving as well, but waking up, he had chosen instead to simply watch his best friend turned girlfriend.

~_Now there's something I never thought I'd achieve, I actually have a girlfriend…amazing. ~_

He just lay there, revelling at the feeling of peace and the silence in his mind, for the first time he wasn't tense and ready to bolt, he didn't feel like he was laying his soul out for everyone to see, he wasn't Nightcrawler, he wasn't Muerte, he was just Kurt Wagner…and it felt pretty damn good.

Kitty mumbled something in her sleep and opened her eyes, blinking blearily at her surroundings. She cuddled closer to Kurt, "What time is it?" she yawned.

"Sometime around midnight." She looked up at him, taking in his pointed ears, glowing eyes and sharp fangs. She giggled and he cocked an eyebrow, "And _vhat_ exactly is so funny?"

She sighed and kissed his cheek, "If my parents _ever_ find out I'm dating you…they'll flip." She giggled again and Kurt shook his head.

"Then let's not let them know you're dating a furry half demon, Kay?"

She smiled and hugged him, "You do know no one cares who your parents are right?"

He nodded, "Ja…I vasn't completely unconscious you know."

She grinned, "Alright, in that case, let's go get something to eat."

"As if you didn't own my heart before." He wrapped an arm around her waist as they headed upstairs, both still in what they'd been sleeping in, Kurt in black sweatpants, Kitty in short shorts and Kurt's shirt.

The mansion was silent and shadows filled the corridors as they entered the kitchen, both grabbing some cold leftovers from dinner to fill their stomachs. It turned out that the X Men had just ordered in pizza and they were quite happy when they found six pizzas in the fridge, one which was vegetarian and the others were covered in pretty much everything, but anchovies and olives.

"God bless zem." Kurt muttered before grabbing a slice, Kitty giggled grabbing some of her own vegetarian pizza and sitting on a bar stool across from her boyfriend.

When Logan came down later that morning, it was to find the two seated at the kitchen table, each with a mug of hot chocolate and the empty pizza boxes in the garbage, all six of them.

Wolverine leaned against the doorframe and half grinned, "I know you're zere, Herr Logan, no need to spy on us."

Logan chuckled and walked in, "Glad to see you're alright Elf." Said blue mutant grinned. "Everyone will be down in a few minutes…actually Rogue and Evan are coming down right now." He turned to start a pot of coffee, and just as he prophesized, two very sleepy mutant teens stumbled into the kitchen, not really taking in their surroundings.

Kurt stood from the table and walked over to his friends, Kitty giggled behind her hand.

Evan yawned and turned only to bump into his friend, "Sorry Kurt." He yawned, walking around him.

Nightcrawler chuckled as he reached over Rogue to grab a bowl for her, "Thanks Blue." She mumbled.

Kurt crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter, counting in his head, ~_Three, two…one. ~_ The occupants of the kitchen froze, both Evan and Marie blinking a few times at Kurt who continued to grin, his tail swishing from side to side.

"Guten Tag!" he greeted, snapping the two out of their shock.

"Kurt!" he was then glomped from either side by his friends, both apparently trying to squeeze him to death.

Kitty fell out of her chair laughing as Scott and Jean entered the show, followed by Ororo, all three much more conscious than Rogue and Evan had been. Another happy cheer went up as Scott and Jean entered the 'Kurt hugging' group of the X Men.

"Hey, I want in!" Kitty phased to the center of the group, taking hold of Kurt who was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

Logan shook his head, shuffling away from the laughing, hugging group, and over to Ororo, "They are something huh?" he questioned passing her a mug of coffee.

The weather witch took it with a smile, "Yes, they are." He grinned, watching the knot of teens.

Storm sipped on her coffee, apparently Logan was more thoughtful than they gave him credit for as it was prepared just as she liked it, two creams one sugar. She smiled as Evan messed up Kurt's hair, their family was back to normal, or as normal as mutants could get.

"Alright everyone, calm down before you destroy my kitchen!" She walked over, placing her mug on the counter.

The teenagers all exchanged looks before grinning evilly, "Attack!" Evan called and they jumped at the adults. Logan laughed as he was tackled by his daughter and Kurt. Meanwhile, Evan and Kitty had taken down Ororo and were tickling her to death.

"Do you surrender?" Evan asked and Ororo grinned.

"A goddess never surrenders!" she somehow found a way to tackle her nephew and soon he was at her mercy.

Logan was on his stomach and with an Elf and Goth sitting on his back looking quite pleased with themselves. He chuckled as he watched the two Africans play. Jean and Scott had bowed out at some point and Kitty had sat herself on the kitchen counter to watch the events.

Logan smirked and flipped onto his back; while Kurt had jumped away, Marie was underneath him, and he was soon tickling her sides, her one weakness. Marie wiggled and tried to get away, but her father had her caught, "I give! I give!"

Kurt jumped up next to Kitty, smiling widely. He placed a kiss on her cheek, unnoticed by everyone, who still had no idea what had gone on between the two.

The Professor wheeled himself in, followed by Hank to find Marie and Evan still at the mercy of their guardians, with Kurt and Kitty as spectators.

"Hey, crazy people!" Kitty called out, grabbing everyone's attention, "The Professor's here." They all turned to the older man, who was smiling and trying to hide his chuckles.

"Please, don't stop on my account, I just thought you'd all like to get dressed before our guests arrive." He started backing out and everyone scrambled after him.

"What guests, Professor?" Evan questioned.

"I invited a few of your families to visit." He smiled at them he'd planned this several weeks before Kurt was nearly used to destroy the world, but seeing as everyone was now back to normal and not dead, he saw no reason to cancel.

"Really?!" Scott popped up, looking excited and everyone chuckled at his antics.

"Yes, and that includes your brother and mother, Scott."

"Yes!" Scott was acting quite different from normal and it made everyone feel ten times lighter.

"Yes, they should all be arriving within a few hours, so please make your rooms and selves presentable." He wheeled away and everyone dispersed.

"Huh, now where did I put my watch?" Kurt mumbled to himself as he grabbed a quick breakfast before walking upstairs to his room. Kitty had had breakfast with him, but had run ahead of him, claiming she had laundry to do if she wanted to actually have clothing to wear. The blue mutant entered his room, to find it just as he'd left it, with only a few bits and pieces scattered about for him to clean up.

Nightcrawler shut the door behind him and stood in silence, he hadn't had any time alone since Azazel happened, and it was almost frightening. He sighed, and brought a hand up to where that cursed gem had melded into his skin to control him. He had snapped it off and tied it around Azazel's wrists at some point and it was no longer on Earth, and while there was no physical mark he could still feel the shadow of its weight, and it wasn't a calming feeling.

He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, using that strange sense of his that helped him teleport without ending up inside someone or something. It was also very handy while traveling, he was able to tell you the exact point of where he was, latitude, longitude, elevation, everything.

What that sense was currently telling him, was that everything was as it should be, and where his friends were in their rooms. He smiled to himself…and bamfed, out to the balcony where the sun was over the ocean, causing its beautiful blues to shine bright. He laughed to himself, breathing in the fresh air.

oOo

Kitty scrambled around her room, much to the amusement of her roommate.

"So…what happened between you and mah brothah?" Kitty paused in her frantic search, to give Marie a secret smile.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know." She continued her search, but wasn't as frantic, her mind seemingly far away, before she finally grabbed a few different outfits from the closet and tried to figure out which one would be best. She shrugged, deciding to ask Kurt as soon as her side of the room was clean.

By the time she was done, you could have bounced a quarter off the bed and everything was spotless. "Ya'll did that in fifteen minutes, ya do realize that."

Kitty smiled and grabbed her clothes from her closet again, "Yep, just don't tell my parents, if they hear I was cleaning my own room, they'd sue the Professor without a doubt."

Rogue shook her head, "Your parents are nuts, no offence."

"None taken, I completely agree." She headed to the door, "And as for Kurt and me, well, let's just say…he is one damn good kisser." She giggled and ran from the room, leaving behind a shocked Marie.

"Too much information!" she called and fell back onto her bed, trying to get that mental image out of her head, "So wrong." She moaned into her pillow in an overly dramatic fashion.

oOo

Kitty knocked on her boyfriend's door, "Come in!" he called. Walking through the door, she looked around the room, to find Kurt digging through his closet, "Can you help me, I can't figure out which one looks best with blue fur." And apparently trying to find a shirt.

"Only if you help me decide what to wear." She replied.

"Done." He grinned and she left her clothes on his bed to walk over and look through the clothing he owned.

"You have _almost_ as much black as your sister." She stated to his amusement.

"Ja, but vhat are you going to do? Hardly anything goes vith blue fur." She shook her head and pulled out a white, button up t-shirt.

"How about this?" she held it up to him and nodded, "Perfect, you'll look fantastic." He grinned and pulled the shirt on over a tighter long sleeved black shirt that only went three quarters down his arms, leaving his wrists bare.

"Alright, now, which of these outfits will look best on me?" she questioned and spread her choices over his bed. He looked them over before he picked up a looser, deep blue shirt that had an intricate design on the upper portion, and a flowing black skirt that stopped just above her ankles.

"Zis vould look perfect."

She smiled, "Great." She took the ensemble and went into Kurt's bathroom to change.

When she came back out, Kurt felt his heart rate speed up, "Vow."

She blushed and spun in a slow circle, "Good decision?" he nodded and came over, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Absolutely beautiful." He dipped his head and kissed her gently making her melt into his embrace.

A knocking on the door made them pull away, both scowling, "Hey Kurt, you in there? I need help." Evan called through the door and Kurt sighed, letting go of Kitty.

"Ja, come on in."

The African boy strode in, smiling at Kitty when he saw her, "You look nice."

She smiled, "Thanks, Kurt helped me pick it out."

Spyke nodded at his friend, "Very good choice, mate. Now, _I_ need help in choosing what to wear, apparently it's not just family coming, but a few potential students as well and we need to make a good impression…so which shirt." He held up three and the two looked them over before sharing a look, Kurt wondering why people were asking _him_ for fashion advice.

"Green."

He let out a breath, glad that decision was over, "Great, oh and Kurt, your watch is on your bedside table." He threw over his shoulder as he left. The blue mutant grinned and went over and sure enough, underneath a bunch of paper, was his image inducer in its charger just waiting to be used.

He strapped the device to his wrist and turned it on, while he was still wearing the same clothes, he now had the appearance of a human. Kitty sighed, "I still prefer the fuzzy version, but if your looking like this means my parents don't go nuts, fine with me…I guess." He grinned and turned off his watch before taking her hand and pulling her outside onto the balcony.

She smiled up at him, "Now…vhere vere ve?" he grinned and gave her a kiss, to which she replied quite happily.

oOo

Kitty bit her lip as she sat next to a hologram covered Kurt, they were all waiting for their guests to arrive and she was worried her parents would say or do something, not to embarrass her, but that made everyone else feel hurt. She was especially worried that her parents would say something to Kurt, they'd always hated foreign people who came to America, "Trying to steal our wealth!" was how her father described them.

Both Logan and Kurt perked up, "They're here." Logan muttered and everyone stood, brushing down there clothes to rid themselves of wrinkles.

Everyone was unbelievably nervous, there would be possible students coming through the door in a few minutes, and no one wanted to screw up, they wanted to make the Professor's dream a reality. Kurt swallowed, double checking his watch was working, he'd even had Hank look it over earlier to be sure it wouldn't go on the fritz during the evening.

"Uh, Kit-Kat, I think it's your folks." Evan stated, spying the expensive vehicle that was driving up to the mansion.

She joined him at the window, "Well, at least someone else is following them." She mumbled, noticing a taxi following them.

Shadowcat took another breath and Kurt came behind her, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back, "You'll be fine, Katzchen." She nodded and gave him a smile. Everyone else gave her thumbs ups as the doorbell rang. Ororo walked over, being the official greeter of the night, seeing as Logan was more likely to scare everyone.

Storm opened the door to reveal a couple dressed in expensive looking clothes, and the woman was obviously trying to flaunt that she married a rich man as she had a large diamond ring on, actually all her jewellery was diamond.

"Hello, I'm Ororo Monroe, and I'm one of the instructors here. You must be Franklyn and Suzanne, welcome." She stepped aside as she spoke, letting the Prydes enter. The couple looked over the entry way, as if trying to find something wrong with it, but even theirs couldn't compare to the beauty and homeliness of the Institute and Kitty felt a swell of confidence in her as she strode forward with a smile on her face.

"Mom! Dad!" she greeted and they turned, apparently they were shocked at what they saw, because the last time they'd seen their daughter, she'd been shy, and always attempting to blend in, confidence was not what she'd been known for.

"Katherine." Kitty smiled and finally reached her parents, who looked her over.

"How are you?" she asked politely, and that started a very strange conversation, it was almost like they were speaking to a business partner, instead of their daughter. Kurt shook his head, and felt himself twitching to go and hang from a lighting fixture somewhere.

The door bell rang again and when Ororo opened this time, she was met by a smiling woman, with shorter blonde hair, warm brown eyes and laugh lines. A tan blonde boy that wouldn't have looked out of place on a surfboard stood next to her.

"Hi, I'm Jane Summers and this is Alex."

"Hey!" the boy greeted.

Ororo smiled and stood aside to let them in, "I'm Ororo Monroe and I'm one of the teachers here, welcome." Her greeting didn't seem as forced this time round, it actually sounded like she was genuinely happy to see them.

"Mom! Alex!" Scott ran over, he was taller than his mother and pulled her into a hug, messing with his younger brother's hair.

"Hey bro!" Alex greeted as Scott pulled away from his mother who started looking him over with the care of a worried mother.

"How have you been, honey?"

Scott smiled at them both, "Great! I want to introduce you to my friends." He led them over to where everyone stood, outside the window, more cars and taxis started to pull up. Logan and Hank, who was also wearing an image inducer for the day, were acting as the muscle men and taking everyone's bags up to their rooms.

Scott pulled his family over to the other X Men, over in the corner Kitty was still speaking with her parents.

He started with his girlfriend, "This is Jean Grey, my girlfriend." The red head smiled a tad nervously; she and Jane were about the same height.

"Hello my dear, it's a pleasure to meet you in person."

Jean smiled for real this time, "It's nice to meet you."

Scott brought up Evan next, "This is Evan Monroe, Ms. Monroe's nephew."

Evan rolled his eyes, "I feel so unloved, Jean gets a fancy title but I don't…for _shame_ Scott." Alex chuckled at the boy's sarcasm and Evan greeted the Summers in a more normal fashion.

"This is Marie Logan, uh, Mister Logan's daughter."

Marie smiled, "Ah also go bah Rogue." She held a gloved hand out to her friend's mom to shake.

"It's good to meet you, dear." They came up to Kurt next, who smiled.

"And this is Kurt Wagner."

Kurt grinned, "Guten Tag." Alex looked at his brother in confusion, but Kurt answered for him, "I'm from Germany, originally." He explained.

"And that over there is Kitty, but you'll meet her properly later, she's with her parents right now." Scott pointed out and Jane nodded and smiled.

"Well it's good to meet you all."

Kurt stood, "How about you give your Mom and brozzer a tour of ze mansion." He suggested and Scott nodded.

"That's sound like a good idea, could you find us for dinner though?"

Jean nodded, "We'll be sure to."

The Summers walked off, catching up, and Scott explaining in hushed tones what each of his friend's powers were and to be sure not to mention mutants in front of the Prydes.

oOo

Kitty listened to her parents inform her on different plans that they'd made for the future, it appeared that no matter how far from them she was, she was still having her life planned out.

"You'll love him, Katherine, he's rich and fairly good looking, and you two will make a marvellous couple."

~_Wait, what?!~_ "What? What do you mean?"

Suzanne sighed, "Your future husband honey, we're in the process of making the arrangements now, you'll be married as soon as you're eighteen."

Kitty's mind was blank, _married; her parents were planning her marriage?!_

"N-no, I-I don't want to marry someone I've never even met!" she stood.

"Now Katherine…"

"No, please, for _once_ in my life, let me have just a _tiny_ bit of freedom!" she pleaded, trying to keep her frightened tears from falling.

Franklyn glared at her, "Sit _down_ girl; you are making a spectacle of yourself."

Kitty took a few calming breaths, "May we complete this conversation in the privacy of my quarters?" she asked, her voice cold and clipped, surprising her parents, but they nodded and the family stood.

Kitty led them upstairs and to her bedroom, "This is where you're sleeping?" Suzanne looked over at Rogue's gothic side of the room, "And with a _roommate?_"

Kitty pulled out two chairs for them, sitting down on her bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something move in the shadows and nearly yelped when she spotted Kurt, pretty much invisible in the dark, but there nonetheless. Suddenly, Kitty felt she could speak her mind to her parents with the confidence that she was right.

"I don't want my life planned out for me; I want to be able to do what I want."

Franklyn Pryde shook his head, "Katherine, listen to me. You _will_ marry Andrew, whether you like it or not."

Kitty shook her own head, "No, I want to choose who I marry, not some guy you choose cause he's rich!" she stood, glaring fiercely and she caught Kurt nodding in encouragement in the shadows.

Suzanne remained silent, but her husband was becoming furious, "Look here, you will follow our orders, or you are coming home this instant."

Kitty glared, "You'd have to drag me kicking and screaming, and _only_ if you could get a hold of me." She borrowed the angry tone that Wolverine and occasionally Kurt would be heard using.

It was a tone that made Franklyn snap, "You are coming home _now_."

They stood and Kitty stepped back, "Try and put a hand on me then. I'll have you know that my friends _won't_ let you take me." Her father stepped forward, trying to grab her arm, but his hand slipped through her, making his wife gasp.

He stepped back, "What-what _are_ you?"

She smiled coldly, "I'm a mutant, that's what this school is for…_mutants_. Both the students _and_ adults that live in this Institute won't let me go without putting up a fight." She grinned, "So just try and take me, you won't get out the front door."

Suzanne stood, "We don't want a freak for a daughter anyway!" Franklyn took his wife's hand and they stormed out, Kitty followed behind then, feeling incredibly light.

The only person in the entry hall, when they got there, was the Professor, "We'll be leaving now, Mister Xavier, and feel free to keep Katherine, she is _no_ daughter of mine."

Logan stepped in front of the Prydes, growling slightly, "_Kitty_," he stressed the name, "Is one of the best kids I've _ever_ met, you should be proud to call her your daughter!"

Franklyn, while intimidated, would not be put down, "Good, then you won't mind keeping her here, without our fees!" he and his wife then stormed out, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Vell…zat could have gone better." Kurt stated his head cocked to the side and his arms crossed, looking amused.

Kitty smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around her friend, "Actually, that went great!"

Logan shook his head, "So what now?"

Charles smiled, "Now we have dinner, Kitty, Kurt, would you care to join us?" The two didn't even look up, "We'll be right zere, Professor." Kurt replied, not taking his eyes off Kitty. The Professor nodded, and wheeled down the hall to the dining hall, Logan at his side.

Kitty looked up, her eyes bright, "Thanks for being there."

He grinned and gave her a quick kiss, "You've done ze same for me." The two walked down the hall to enter the noisy dining hall, everyone else having already been seated. They chose seats at the very end of the table, away from everyone else. Kitty scooted her chair as close to his as she could, and unseen to everyone, his tail slipped out of the hologram to wrap around her waist, underneath her shirt. She giggled at the feeling of his fur against her skin and Kurt smirked.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming." The Professor captured everyone's attention, "I will not bore you with a long speech, so I just want to say that I am very pleased you could all come, and it warms my heart that so many of you are considering my Institute." Everyone gave the Professor smiles, even if the new students and their parents did so slightly nervously. "Dig in!" everyone promptly dug into their meal.

Up the table, Evan looked over at Kurt and Kitty, "Um, who are they?" a young girl across from him questioned. She had auburn hair and light hazel eyes.

"Oh, that's Kurt and Kitty. And I'm Evan, what's your name?"

"I'm Rayne, and this is my friend Jamie." She motioned to a brown haired boy who seemed to be around her same age next to her.

"Hi!" Jamie grinned.

"So…what can you two do?" she seemed surprised at the question.

"You mean, you're actually _allowed_ to talk about your mutations?"

Rogue nodded from beside Evan, "Of course, that's what this place is for, all the students here, and the adults, are mutants." She took a bite of her salad.

"_All_ of them?" Jamie asked, looking at the Professor, Hank, Logan and Ororo with new found interest.

Evan nodded again, "Yep, I create these spikes…see." A small spike came from his knuckle in a similar way to Logan's claws, except, not as long…or shiny. He pulled it out to show them, "Ta da!" They seemed stunned by the casual use of his abilities.

"See, most of us use our powers regularly. Lahke Kitty, her ability is ta phase through anythang, so she barely _ever_ uses the door."

"Or Kurt," Evan added, "He can teleport, so he'll just 'port from room to room."

Rayne nodded, "I can turn into a wolf…"

"And I can make doubles of myself!" Jamie added enthusiastically.

"Really?" Those were both interesting abilities.

"Yep, she can _also_ go half way between the two forms so she can be like a werewolf too." Jamie stated while Rayne blushed.

"Cool!" Evan grinned, "You guys would fit right in here." They smiled at them.

oOo

A/N: No action in this chapter, but Kitty got the spotlight, which was fun. For all of you saying nothing bad is happening to Kitty, don't worry that will change. Plus, I pretty much torture her in several other stories, so it kinda balances out.

Thanks for reading!


	21. Sunrise

Chapter 21: Sunrise

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it.

A/N: I decided to add a couple New Mutants in this chapter; they will be OOC because I don't know much about them.

**A/N2: Rahne and Jamie are both 11, and Bobby is 15. **

oOo

Kitty blinked up at her ceiling and turned in her bed to see that she'd woken up later than normal. ~_Not again. ~ _

She fell from her bed and looked around her room, Marie was still fast asleep in her bed, but unlike the last time Kurt had failed to wake her up, the boys were not making enough noise to wake the dead outside her door.

She licked her lips and walked through the door, her bare feet making no noise as she padded down the hall. When she reached Kurt's door, she paused for a second before going in.

Her boyfriend was curled up in his bed, the covers having somehow ended up on the floor. His chest rose and fell with his breathing and she was pleased to notice that he seemed quite peaceful and relaxed.

~_Guess he's just catching up on missed sleep. ~ _While quite a relief, she was a little disappointed that he was asleep.

She shrugged mentally and grabbed the blanket from the floor, gently throwing it over him before she kissed his cheek and left the room.

A few seconds later she came back in and grabbed one of his shirts from his drawer, grinning as she pulled the black material over her head.

Blanketed by the material of her boyfriend's clothing, she wandered around the mansion, eventually ending up pulling on her shoes and wandering around the backyard.

She sat on the dew covered grass and watched the sun rise, lighting up the dark sky. It was then that she heard the soft sound of someone walking up behind her.

"You alvays steal my clothes." She turned, smiling, to see Kurt leaning against a nearby tree, shirtless and his hair slightly messy from sleep.

"How'd you find me?" she questioned as he walked over to sit next to her.

"I voke up and vas vatching the sunrise from my balcony, vhen I saw you valking around down here." He kissed her temple and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She grinned up at him and they sat in silence, watching the Sun, rise in the East.

"So…what do you want to do today? After all, my parents aren't here anymore, and everyone else is going to be busy."

He grinned, "Vant to hijack Scott's car?"

Kitty grinned back, "We have to get ice-cream too, can't go without ice-cream on a Saturday." He smiled and kissed her forehead with a relaxed sigh.

The Sun had risen completely by now, so they trekked back up to the mansion. Entering the kitchen, they found Storm preparing breakfast, and Logan in his regular seat at the table with his customary coffee and the paper.

Ororo greeted them with a smile, "Good morning, you two."

"Guten Morgen, Fraulein Munroe."

Kitty smiled back. "Morning Mr. Logan." Kitty took a seat across from the gruff man who grunted in response.

"So, vhat's for breakfast?" Kurt looked over Ororo's shoulder.

"Bacon and eggs…yes Kitty I have vegetarian choices for you." The brunette girl grinned thankfully at her instructor for answering her silent question.

"Mornin'!" Marie stumbled into the kitchen, running a hand through her hair to tidy it. "Kurt…why are you damp?" the blue mutant looked over himself to see he was covered in a thin blanket of moisture.

"Oh, I vas outside earlier, blame the seasons." She shook her head and grabbed a plate to dish up her breakfast.

Breakfast was a mainly silent affair as everyone was still in the process of waking up. Ororo was really pulling out all the stops to cook enough food for everyone, and that included their guests.

Footsteps, preceded several of their guests as they entered the kitchen and Kurt, sensing a possible disaster, disappeared out the door and 'ported away.

Kitty looked after her friend with a sad expression, "I hate that he has to do that." She sighed and pushed away from the table, putting her dirty plate in the dishwasher.

She walked past a blonde boy as she left, and she sent him a small glare as he looked her over. Kitty quickened her pace away from the kitchen, but unfortunately, the boy had decided to follow her.

"Hey! I'm Bobby!" he smiled at her, but Kitty pushed past him, "What's your name?" he came in front of her again.

"Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat, and I wouldn't mind getting to my room right about now."

He grinned, "Kitty huh? Well, Kitty how'd you like to go on a date with me?"

"She's taken, buddy, so back off." Kurt appeared behind Bobby, his inducer on, and his arms crossed.

Bobby turned, "By who, you?"

Kurt continued to glare at the boy. "Yes, now leave her alone."

Kitty smirked inwardly, "You might want to listen to him, the last guy that bugged me ended up black and blue." She couldn't keep the smirk out of her voice or off her face.

Bobby didn't seem to understand what he was up against and just smirked, "Come on, really? You expect me to believe that this guy across from me could actually hurt someone?" he laughed and Kurt raised a hand to his inducer, his normal appearance appearing in a matter of seconds.

"Look again." Kitty crossed her arms as Bobby turned, and paled dramatically. Kurt was just standing there, glaring with his arms crossed, but he made for an intimidating picture. The young teen gulped and Kitty took pleasure in walking past him to stand next to Kurt.

"Next time, don't make me use my appearance to scare you." Kurt wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, "Oh and a quick note, Jean, ze red-head, is vith Scott, and Rogue is my leetle sister, so hands off both of zem." The two friends turned and walked back down the hall, both trying to keep their faces neutral.

"Should I turn my inducer back on?"

Kitty shook her head, "No, if people are going to live here, they're going to have to get used to the fact that mutants don't always look the same as humans. It's a fact that they're going to have to live with."

Kurt smiled, "Alright, but if one person screams I'm turning it on."

"I can live with that."

They walked back upstairs, passing a few of their guests, all of which were shocked by Kurt's appearance, but no one spoke to them until they met up with a young girl and boy. The girl had short auburn hair and the boy was about her same height with brown hair.

"Hey, aren't you Kitty?" the girl questioned.

"Um, yes." The girl grinned, "I'm Rahne and this is Jamie, we met Evan and Rogue last night."

"That's how we know who you are."

"But we don't know who the boy beside you is."

Shadowcat and Nightcrawler stood in stunned silence, "Uh, I'm Kurt Vagner."

Jamie tilted his head to the side, "Uh…you looked…_different_ last night."

Kurt chuckled, "Yes ze vonders of holograms, huh?"

A look of understanding crossed over the two young teens faces, "Oh…hey, could you direct us to the kitchen, we're kinda lost." Kitty gave them directions and the two friends scurried down the hall.

She smiled at her boyfriend as they continued down the hall, "Told you, some people are more understanding than others."

He rolled his eyes but smiled, "Alvright, you have me, I'll wear my inducer less around ze house."

"That's all I want."

oOo

Kurt tapped his pencil against his notebook, staring out the window of the Library as the rain came down in sheets, making it impossible to see. Not that you would've been able to anyway seeing as it was coming close to two in the morning.

He sighed and looked down on the blank sheet of paper he was supposed to be creating his English project on, barely restraining himself from bashing his head against the table repeatedly. The assignment was to draw, or write about something or someone that inspired you, and made you think. The piece had to have meaning, and it was due the very next day.

He growled and was about to slam his book shut when he stopped himself, Azazel's control over him had made him a lot more short tempered, and he hated that he had to catch himself from snapping at his friends all the time.

He shook himself, "Alright Wagner, time to stop the pity party, go to the Professor tomorrow and ask him to take a look in your head to see if anything's been messed with." He muttered to himself in German.

He looked back out the window, listening to rain and sighed again, tomorrow, or actually today, as it actually was, was his birthday, his seventeenth birthday to be more specific. He didn't know his actual birthday, so his parents had gone with the day they found him: November 25.

"What are you doing up so late?" Kurt turned to see Jean approaching him, clad in a silk blue robe, her hair pulled back in a loose braid for sleeping.

"Just some homevork I'm having trouble vith."

She sat across from him. "It's not just that, I was getting a drink of water and I felt a blast of anger…what's up?" he stared into her emerald eyes and saw nothing but caring in them.

He sighed and put his face in his hands, "I'm messed up."

"What? No you aren't."

"Nein, you don't get it. Vhen, _he_ took control of me, he messed with me enough that I actually _vanted_ to do vhat he told me. Now, I get angry at the slightest thing…It's starting to scare me, Jean. I'm vorried zat one day, I won't stop myself, and I'll hurt someone I love." The last part was whispered and his head had sunk so low that his forehead was touching the table top.

A small, warm hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked up to see Jean smiling softly at him, "I can take a look…if you let me."

He gave her a grateful smile, "Vould you?" she nodded and he gave her another smile, "Danke, Jean."

She smiled, "What are friends for?" he closed his eyes and she placed her hands on either side of his head.

"I need you to lower your mental barriers…there, now hold still, and stay calm." Kurt took deep, even breathes, letting Jean into his mind.

The red head got a look of concentration on her face and gently started going through Kurt's mind. Thankfully, he 'led' her to where she needed to look.

The 'feeling' of "Ah ha!" went through them both and Jean took a look at the black band that had been wrapped around Kurt's emotions and thoughts. The aura that surrounded the band radiated hate, and evil, but Jean didn't hesitate to start at it. She tried to cut through it, and break it. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard a deep growl that sounded absolutely feral, but she pressed on until the band was gone and all that was left was Kurt's regular emotions and thoughts.

She pulled back carefully and opened her eyes to see two bright, golden eyes staring back at her. She jumped a bit in surprise but then registered that Kurt was smiling broadly.

"Danke, Jean that feels _so_ much better."

She smiled back in return, "I've never done anything like that before...Did it work?"

He grinned, "If it didn't, you would be dead by now." She cocked her head to the side and he shrugged, "Vhile you were working, I nearly went back to that weird, angry version Azazel had turned me into, I opened my eyes and nearly attacked you."

He looked away, but she placed a hand on his shoulder to turn him back to her. "But you didn't."

He grinned. "Danke, again, Jean."

She smiled and ruffled his hair as she stood, "Finish up that project, then get some sleep."

"Guten Nacht, Jean."

"Good night, Kurt." She left the way she came and Kurt turned back to his paper, before getting a happy smile on his face and putting pencil to paper.

The lead created dark and light marks as he shaded and outlined the image. When he was done, what was left was a very accurate drawing of the mansion, with all the X Men standing in front. He was glad that he had seemed to capture their personalities well in the photo.

Dead center was the Professor, his eyes twinkling as he smiled. Jean and Scott were next to him, Scott grinning and standing proud with Jean at his side who had a soft, caring expression on her face. Next was Rogue, who had Evan in a headlock, the boy was grinning and trying to get out of the Goth's grip to no avail, he had his skateboard in one hand. Logan had his arms crossed and was smirking as he stood next to Ororo who looked torn between laughing at her nephews plight and helping him. Hank, looking decidedly human wore his lab coat and stood behind the Professor. Finally, Kitty was kneeling on the ground on the other side, he himself (he'd drawn himself looking human of course) was behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

A few hours later he was tucking his now completed project into his bag and falling into bed, still fully clothed but a smile on his face.

oOo

Kitty fell through her door, yawning and stretching her arms above her head walked down the hall towards Kurt's room; she'd gotten dressed in auto pilot that morning in a warm white sweater that was heaven to the touch and a pair of dark wash jeans.

She knocked on Kurt's door, "Wakey wakey Fuzzy! Time for breakfast!" she waited for a few minutes, but heard no sounds of movement beyond the door. She sighed and walked through it to see Kurt sprawled across his bed still in his clothes from yesterday.

"Pulled another all-nighter, did we?" she asked no one.

"Alright, time to wake up blue boy." She grabbed his ankles and started tugging him until he fell off his bed.

He hit the floor with a thump that was echoed by a moan and a few well chosen German phrases.

"Must you do zat?" he spoke into the floor.

"Yep, now get dressed." She nudged him with her foot and leaned down. He groaned but pushed himself up, yawning as he stumbled over to his closet, revealing his fangs.

He turned as she continued to stand there; "Are you going to watch me get dressed or somezing?" she shrugged and started making his bed. He rolled his eyes but quickly changed into a dark red sweater and a pair of brown cargos, he paused for a moment before pulling on a black version of the boots from his uniform, it was starting to get cold and fur only kept you so warm. He grabbed his multifunctional watch, and did a double take at the calendar.

~_Oh, right, _it's_ today. ~_ He sighed sadly and turned on his inducer, cloaking his appearance and putting on a smile.

"Come on, if you tighten the sheets anymore I won't be able to move them to get to sleep tonight. ~_Which I wish was sooner. ~ _ he grabbed his school bag and the two headed down to the kitchen.

When they reached the eating area, Evan and Scott were already making quick work of their food while Rogue and Jean ate at a more relaxed pace. The rest of their 'family' greeted them before going back to their meals.

Their guests had left awhile ago and their new students wouldn't be coming until next year.

Kurt grabbed a bunch of pretty much everything before sitting next to Jean in one of the only empty chairs with Kitty on his other side.

"Did you get your project done?" the telepath questioned him.

He grinned, a bit less forcefully and nodded, "Ja, I'll let you know vhat I get." She nodded and smiled at him before going back to her fruit salad.

Kitty smiled and left Kurt to his food, starting up a conversation on Scott, asking him what he was doing for the Christmas holidays which were fast approaching.

oOo

Marie looked over at her adoptive older brother and frowned in worry, he'd been acting strangely depressed, and she had no idea why. When a conversation from a few months ago came back to her and she felt like smacking herself.

[Flashback]

"Hey Kurt?" the blue mutant looked up from his book; she could see he looked tired from his sleepless nights recently.

"Ja Marie?"

"I was just wonderin…when's yer birthday?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Vhy?"

She shrugged, "You're mah brothath, and little sisters should know when their older brothah's birthdays are."

He shook his head, "November twenty fifth, well actually zat's ze day mein parents found me…" he trailed off and Rogue didn't try and pick the conversation up again as her brother fell back into his book.

"You should try reading Dracula, it's a great book." He smirked and the conversation had fallen into one about books, the whole birthday thing forgotten.

[End Flashback]

Her eyes widened, _today_ was November 25! Her brother was seventeen today, and she didn't even remember.

Kurt pushed away from the Lunch table, "I'll see you guys later."

They waved him off and Rogue spoke up as soon as he was out the door, "Today's his birthday!" she blurted out.

"What?" Evan gave her a confused look.

"Today is Kurt's seventeenth birthday, Ah can't _believe_ Ah forgot!" she exclaimed wanting to hit her head against something.

"Wait, how do you know?" Kitty asked.

"Ah asked him, but Ah didn't remember until now…oh God Ah feel _so stupid!_"

"Marie, Marie _relax_ we can fix this." They group fell into plans, and were coming up dry when Scott and Jean came over.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It's the K-Man's birthday, we have to do something for him, and it _has_ to be awesome." Evan exclaimed, his eyes glinting.

Scott nodded in agreement, "Count me in, it has to be great, it needs to make up for the last ten years." His friends nodded and Jean and Scott started adding to their planning.

"Okay, well I can keep him busy while you guys set everything up." Kitty stated as their plans were finalized.

"I can make the cake, Scott you're on lights duty." Jean started.

The shaded boy nodded, "Evan, you need to get the backyard set up, alright, Ah'll get mah Dad to help you." Spyke grinned in appreciation at Rogue.

"Alright, Rogue, you need to go shopping for the presents." He returned.

"Done." The southern girl agreed as the bell rang.

"Alright people, now, just make sure Kurt doesn't catch on." Scott was stumped as to how they'd pull that off.

Kitty grinned, a tad evilly, "Oh, I will, and I will enjoy it." She skipped off, her mind full of ideas, that she was pretty sure Kurt would enjoy too.

Scott looked after her in confusion, "What was that about?"

Marie shook her head; she forgot that everyone else didn't know about Kurt and Kitty. "Let's just say…they finally stopped being idiots."

Evan cocked an eyebrow, "More specific please."

She groaned, "Kurt and Kitty are goin' out! Happy?"

Evan stared at her, "Finally!" he exclaimed, attracting some attention, but he merely sat down, completely unembarrassed.

"Um, how about we just go to class and we'll meet up later?" the friends dispersed, Jean and Scott still a tad thrown at the fact that they'd just learned that Kurt and Kitty were together.

~_Well, it was bound to happen sometime. ~_

oOo

The cold wind bit at his exposed face as Kurt trudged down the stairs to his car.

"Kurt! Wait up!" the hologram hidden mutant turned and gave Kitty a smile as she ran towards him. She was nearly to him when she slipped, she shut her eyes as she fell when strong arms wrapped around her waist. Opening her eyes she found herself in Kurt's arms.

"Thanks for that Fuzzy." She gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek as he set her upright. "Hey, you wanna go to a movie or something?" she asked him, looping her arm with his.

"Uh, sure, vhy?"

She shrugged, "I don't have any homework and we don't have a Danger Room session planned for the evening."

He grinned. "Ja, vhy not?" They went over to the blue car that Kurt drove and jumped in, turning on the heat as soon as the vehicle roared to life.

"Thank God you left the top up; this wind came out of nowhere." She held her hands in front of the heater. He smiled at her and pulled out of the parking lot, driving in the direction of the theatre.

"So, vhat movie do you vant to see?"

She thought for a minute, "How about that new horror?"

He shook his head, "Kitty, you von't sleep for a veek."

She shrugged, "Yeah, but I can just hide my face in your shoulder like I always do." She smiled, while she _hated_ horror movies with a passion, she _loved_ getting to cuddle up to Kurt, it was probably the only reason she stayed in the room when it was Rogue's turn to pick the movie for the night.

He chuckled, "Alright, horror it is." He found a parking spot and the two headed into the warm theatre.

oOo

A/N: Voila! Next chapter: Kurt is stunned and everyone else enjoys pulling one over on the Fuzzy Dude!


	22. We Are Family

Chapter 22: We Are Family

A/N: This story is slowly, but surely, winding down so this is just going to be a fun chapter with a bunch of family/friendship/romance moments in it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, only the story.

oOo

"Hey Jean, how's the cake comin'?" Rogue asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Ugh! I can't figure out which type to make! Chocolate, or vanilla, or maybe carrot…no he hates carrot cake. What about marble…no, that wouldn't work either. Oh, I don't know what to do!" Jean exclaimed and Rogue went over placing her hands on the red head's shoulders.

"Okay _breathe_." Jean took a calming breath, "Alright, Ah happen to know that Kurt _loves_ chocolate so that would be your best bet. Now, do you want some help? Ah'm done wrapping all the presents."

Jean smiled, "That would be appreciated…Hey, you got what was on the list right?"

Marie nodded, pulling on an apron. "Yep, and I made sure that each of the gifts were from the person who requested it."

Jean smiled and started pulling out ingredients, "Great."

A few minutes and large amounts of chocolate later, the cake was in the oven and the girls were cleaning up to start preparing dinner when Ororo walked in.

"Hello, girls, would you like some help?"

"Thanks Ms. Munroe, that'd be great." The weather goddess began helping the girls prepare the meal, making large quantities of picnic style food. This included sandwiches, salads, a few cold foods and other dishes that Kurt loved.

"Man what smells so good in here?" Evan drifted into the kitchen.

"That would be the cake oh wise one." Marie chided.

"Well, I just came in here to tell you everything's set up, the lights are hung and Kurt and Kitty are on their way home." He grinned and grabbed a bowl of salad, "I'll take this outside and send Scott in." he left through the way he came, out the backdoor as the girls put the finishing touches on the food.

A few trips later, with Scott and Evan's help, everything was outside with the Professor and Logan while they went upstairs to get out of their dirty clothes. They wore casual dress and Scott turned off the lights as everyone ducked behind the tables.

oOo

Kurt switched off the car and climbed out, seeing a movie with Kitty had raised his spirits somewhat, but he was still eager for the day to be over. Kitty followed him into the house, smiling brightly for some reason.

"Vhere is everyone?" he questioned when he found that no one was there.

Kitty giggled and grabbed his hand, switching off his inducer. "Maybe they're in the kitchen." She pulled him down the hall.

"Katzchen, vhat are you up to?" she just smiled and pulled him through the kitchen and to the backdoor.

Without pausing, she threw open the door and pulled him outside, he opened his mouth to ask her what was going on when what must have been over twenty lanterns flashed on.

"Happy Birthday Kurt!" his friends jumped out from their hiding places and his jaw dropped.

He turned to Kitty, "Vh-vhat is…" he couldn't finish his sentence as his face split into one of his trademark megawatt grins.

Rogue laughed and bounded forward, jumping on Kurt in a hug. "Happy birthday bro!" he laughed and hugged her back, lifting her a few inches off the ground and soon he was surrounded by the others.

As Kurt was being greeted, Kitty looked around. Everyone had done a fantastic job and the backyard looked amazing. Paper lanterns hung above them and a few electric lanterns surrounded the area. A long table was groaning under copious amounts of food and another table was set for them to eat at.

"Come on, open your presents then we can eat!" Evan exclaimed as the group dragged their German friend over to another table that was piled with presents.

After he'd unwrapped a couple Beatles CDs from Rogue, a black hoodie with a dark navy X on the front from the Professor, Logan and Ororo, a new horror movie from Evan and a photo album filled with pictures of all the X Men from Jean and Scott, they all gathered for dinner.

Kitty never left Kurt's side throughout the entire night, and the elf was waiting to wake up because everything that was happening must have been a dream.

The party was quieting down and Kurt stood, clearing his throat. Everyone became silent, their attention on Nightcrawler.

He grinned at them, "I just vant to say thank you, you don't know how much this all means to me. So thank you." He gave them a smile and sat they all smiled back.

Kitty smiled and took her boyfriend's hand under the table; she smiled and kissed his soft cheek. "I love you." She whispered softly in his ear.

He gave her a soft smile, "Love you too." He kissed her forehead and they sat in silence.

oOo

Kurt stared up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head and his tail flipping like that of a content cat. He stood from his bed and went over to the open balcony doors walking out he leapt on the stone railing and sat there in what Evan had dubbed his 'gargoyle crouch'.

"Knock knock." A soft voice piped up and he turned his head to see Kitty standing in the doorway in a pair of short shorts and his t-shirt.

"Hello liebling." (Sweetheart). She walked over and leaned against the railing, staring over the sea as the white moonlight gleamed off it.

"I have your present." She brought out a small box wrapped in black paper.

He shook his head, "You didn't have to."

"But I wanted to." She pushed the gift into his hands and leaned back against the railing with a grin.

He shook his head, but slowly unwrapped the gift, revealing a framed photo of the two of them. He had his arms wrapped around her from behind and his head beside hers. She was laughing and her hand was up and running through his hair. He gave Kitty a smile.

"Danke Katzhchen, I love it." He gave her a gentle kiss and pulled her to his chest in a warm hug.

"Never leave?" she smiled, even if he couldn't see it.

"Never leave." She answered.

oOo

Down on the grounds, Wolverine looked up at Kurt's balcony, seeing the two figures standing together. His sensitive ears caught some of their conversation, but he didn't make it his business to listen in. He smiled and continued on his walk around the grounds.

"Hey there." A musical voice greeted and he turned to see Ororo coming over, a soft smile on her lips as she tugged her knitted shawl around her tighter.

"Hey 'Ro." He gave her a small smile that was half hidden as the Sun sank over the horizon. She fell into stride next to him, they walked side by side and Ororo glanced up at the slowly darkening sky with a sad smile.

"You know…in Africa, the sky is so clear at night, it seems endless." She used her powers to dissipate the clouds, revealing the stars.

Logan grinned at her, "Must be beautiful." She nodded, not taking into consideration Logan's eyes had never left her face.

"When Marie was younger, we used to go out in the backyard and just stare at the sky… sometimes until three in the mornin'" he laughed and her laughter joined his, sounding like tinkling bells.

They fell into silence and stared out over the sea as it glittered in the moonlight as they stood near the cliffs.

"You raised her well, you know." He looked over at the weather witch, seeing her eyes were closed and a peaceful expression was on her face.

"Thanks…Evan's a good kid too." She nodded and smiled, but he saw a crystal tear slip down her cheek.

"He's so much like his mother." She whispered her voice thick with emotion as she fought to keep her tears in check; no need to make a scene.

A hand was placed on her shoulder, "Your sister?" she nodded and took a shaky breath, she hadn't spoken about her sister's untimely demise to anyone, all she'd told Evan was how she died and that she'd loved him greatly.

"She died giving birth to her second child." She whispered, her eyes open and tears falling.

Logan placed his hand under her chin, causing her to look up at him. He gave her a gentle smile, "Have you ever talked to anyone?" she shook her head, avoiding his eyes which always seemed to look straight into her soul; judging her.

"Ororo…" her name passed his lips in a whisper before she found herself in his arms, being held in a warm embrace.

Wolverine looked down at the woman in his arms as she cried quietly. Even in pain, she was strong. He ran a hand through her silky, albino locks and held her to him.

After a while her soft cries quieted and she pulled away enough to wipe the tears from her eyes before looking up at him with a thankful expression and while her eyes were red, she still looked breathtaking in Logan's eyes.

"Thank you Logan."

He gave her a small smile, "Anytime 'Ro." He kept an arm around her as they continued on their walk, Ororo feeling incredibly peaceful and glad that for the first time in a while, she didn't have to be the strong one.

oOo

Jean flipped through the channels, a bored expression on her face. It was 2:30 on a Friday long weekend and she was bored out of her mind.

"What's up Jeannie?" Evan dropped himself into a chair across from her, snacking on a Poptart he'd snagged from the kitchen.

She sighed and blew a strand of hair away from her face, "I'm bored." She turned off the TV and stared at the ceiling.

Evan chuckled as he finished his snack and dusted off his hands, "Why don't you hang with Scott?" he questioned.

She shrugged, "He's doing a Danger Room session with Logan." She shuddered, while she liked Logan well enough, he could be quite brutal in his training sessions.

"Well, I think Kitty's been wanting to go shopping, why don't you see if you guys could go together?"

She smiled and her eyes brightened, "That sounds like a good idea…wait, where is she? I do _not_ want to walk in to see her and Kurt making out!"

Evan laughed, "Kurt's outside, taking one of his runs through the forest before it gets too cold to." Evan shook his head, of all his friend's habits, that one was one of the strangest and one the most tame, somehow.

Jean smiled, "In that case, I'm going to go find Kitty." She stood from the couch and headed upstairs towards the girl's bedroom.

Evan leaned back in his chair and grabbed the remote, changing the channel to that of a skateboarding competition.

"Amateurs." He muttered.

oOo

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Kurt moaned and buried his face in his pillow, "Wake _up_ Kurt! Come on, you have to look outside!" Kitty grabbed her boyfriend's arm and dragged him out of bed.

He stumbled and yawned, "Okay okay, I'm up!" he exclaimed laughing at Kitty's excited expression. "Now vhat's got you so excited?"

She smiled; "Look!" she pulled the curtains away from his window revealing the snow covered grounds. A thick blanket of white covered everything and it was still falling from the sky.

He chuckled, "Vell vould you look at zat, it snowed."

She sighed, "It looks like a Christmas card."

He nodded and gave her a grin, "You vanna go outside?"

She nodded, "I'll be right back!" he laughed as she ran back out the door.

Shaking his head he got changed into a thick sweater and warm sweatpants before pulling on a winter jacket and the black version of his uniform boots. He was pulling on his gloves as Kitty barrelled back into the room, dressed for the cold. He grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, 'porting them outside.

She giggled and spun in the snow, the white flakes melting on her skin. He chuckled, watching his friend spin.

She got an evil smile on her face then and turned to jump on Kurt sending them into the snow, he laughed and they proceeded to play, soon they were both covered in the cold, white substance.

After a little while they just laid there, staring up at the sky as the snow continued to fall.

Kurt sighed, "I haven't done zis since I vas leetle." He chuckled, "You know, one time vhen I vas five, my Dad and I vent outside at five in ze morning, and vhen my Mom came out, ze lawn vas _covered _vith snowmen." He laughed at the memory and Kitty giggled along with him.

The sound of footsteps greeted their ears and they sat up to see a black jacket covered Rogue coming outside, not noticing them apparently. Kurt got an evil grin and stood quietly, picking up a handful of snow and packing it into a ball as he went. Kitty rolled her eyes but sat back to watch the 'show'.

"Heads up!" he called as he threw the snowball at his sister. She gasped as the cold projectile hit her and gave Kurt a glare before smirking and creating a snowball of her own which was promptly thrown at the blue mutant.

"Right back at ya, blue boy!" she laughed and Kurt grinned.

"Alright, Marie, you asked for it." He threw another snowball at her but she dodged and threw her own which ended up hitting Kitty who laughed and threw one back.

"This means war!" Kitty called and Kurt leapt out of the way of one of Rogue's throws.

"Take cover!" he yelled, before running to tackle his sister.

"Kurt!" she screamed, laughing as they fell.

"What are you guys…" Evan trailed off as he watched the girls pummel Kurt with snow.

"Evan! I am being attacked by the fairer sex!" the German jumped behind Evan, but that didn't dissuade the girls from continuing to throw snow at the boys. Evan laughed and threw a ball of snow back, having incredibly accurate aim.

Kurt grinned over Evan's shoulder, "Nice shot."

"Thanks." They both started gathering snowballs before chasing after their friends who weren't hesitant to retaliate.

The four friends didn't even notice when Scott and Jean came outside, sneaking behind the group before they leapt out, slinging snow at the younger mutants.

"Attack!" Kurt led the charge against their older team mates and pretty soon it was a free-for-all, snowball massacre.

By the time the Sun was bright, everyone had collapsed in the snow, breathing heavily.

Kurt sighed, watching the sky with a small smile. His fur was absolutely soaked and when he thought about it, he was quite cold, but he was in a great mood.

He stood, shaking himself slightly to try and get rid of excess moisture and nearly laughed when he saw that all his friends were in different states of rest, it even looked like Jean had fallen asleep against Scott. He shook his head and started down across the grounds following a path of familiar footprints

He came up behind Kitty, completely silent.

"Hey."

She turned quickly a surprised expression on her face before she smiled, "Hi."

He grinned before carefully pouncing on her, sending them both back in the snow. Kurt smiled down at her as she was haloed by the snow.

She gave him a confused look before smiling through a blush that came over her cheeks when she realized the position they were in. Kurt was straddling her, leaning in quite close and they were hidden by a line of trees. Kurt grinned and gave her a gentle kiss that sent her spinning.

When the blue mutant pulled away, Kitty sighed and gave him a small smile before she realized he had left her use of her arms. She grinned and pulled Kurt back down to fall into a heated kiss. Suddenly, the cold didn't seem to matter as she had a very warm elf on top of her.

She giggled into the kiss and he gently nipped at her bottom lip with his fangs causing her to gasp. The kiss grew more passionate and they only broke away from time to time to breathe. It was a fair few minutes later when Kitty realized that they should probably go inside.

"Mm, Kurt?" he growled, he had obviously come to the same conclusion she had.

"Ja, I know." She smiled before giving him a suggestive smirk.

"You know, we can always come back out later, after we've warmed up a bit." He grinned wolfishly and gave her another kiss before helping her up.

She stayed as close to Kurt as she could without phasing herself into him as they headed back up to the mansion, entering the kitchen to find everyone else already there and sipping on hot chocolate and chatting about Christmas.

oOo

A/N: Enough fluff for you to go skydiving without a parachute!

Next chapter: More fluffy goodness, and a chapter that is months ahead of its time, but I don't want to go through time where nothing happens. So next up is: Christmas (in September!)

Tomorrow I go back to school (for news on updates please see the note at the top of my profile).

To everyone going back to school: Have a good year! For everyone who isn't: You lucky bastards. XD (pardon my French)


	23. Christmas

Chapter 23: Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own it, just the story.

**A/N: Yes, I know it's only September, no I don't care. The way the timeline works out this had to come next, if you have a problem, shove off.**

**ATTENTION ARTISTS!**

I am looking for an artist to create a good, coloured, picture for this story.

If you are interested and for further details, please PM me.

oOo

"We're gonna miss ya, Cyke." Rogue gave Scott a quick hug after Kitty.

He gave them a grin and Kurt appeared on his shoulders in a burst of black smoke, "Ja, but don't let zat stop you from having a good time vith your family!"

Scott laughed, he was leaving for the airport to go home for Christmas, and he was suddenly very glad he'd tried to leave as early as he could because everyone wasn't letting him leave. What seemed strange, though, was that Jean was absent.

"Guys, I'm going to miss my flight!" he laughed and Kurt sighed before jumping off his shoulders.

"Ja, but um…" he trailed off, grasping for something to say that would stall Scott.

"Are you _sure_ you have everything?" Kitty saved him and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, Kitty, I'm positive." Scott raised an eyebrow; his friends were acting strange, even for them.

"Hey! Good you didn't leave yet!" Jean came down the stairs, dressed in a lilac turtle neck and a pair of blue jeans. In her hands, she had a small present.

Evan grinned, "Finally! We didn't know how much longer we could stall! Kurt was about to start asking about the weather in China for pete's sake!"

Kurt glared at his friend, "Zat's being a leetle dramatic." He crossed her arms but Kitty wrapped an arm around him, leaning her head against his shoulder, looking quite comfortable in her ocean blue turtle neck and light wash jeans.

Everyone was wearing different versions of the outfit, actually, except all the boys had simply, v-line necks. Rogue was in an emerald green sweater with dark wash jeans, Kurt was wearing a deep crimson with baggy tan pants, and Evan was in a pale blue sweater and blue jeans while Scott was in a warm brown with dark jeans.

Scott raised an eyebrow again as everyone relaxed in front of him and Jean came up with the present. "Alright…I'll bite, what's going on?"

Evan grinned, "Well, you're the only one that's not spending the holidays here, so we got you something." Jean handed him the present…and a quick kiss that everyone studiously ignored.

"Open it!" Kitty demanded happily and Scott tore the paper off the present.

"We all added something we thought you'd like." Evan supplied and Scott gave his friends a thankful smile.

"Thanks you guys."

Jean sighed and gave him another kiss. "You don't want to miss your flight." He grinned and gave everyone another goodbye before heading out to his car.

As the boy drove away he couldn't keep his mind off the gift that sat in the seat next to him. His friends had put together a box of assorted things which included a few snapshots of all of them together (most likely from the instructors) a few pairs of his sunglasses (probably Jean) a couple other smaller, wrapped presents that were distinctly labelled "Do not open until Christmas!"

He actually laughed when he recognized Kitty's loopy writing. Then there was a small cylindrical package that said "Open me now!" As he parked his car in the long term airport parkade, he unwrapped the cylinder to reveal a package of hot chocolate.

~_Kurt~ _He gave a small grin and carefully pushed everything into his bag before heading into the airport to catch his flight home to Hawaii.

oOo

Evan struggled to untangle the copious amounts of Christmas lights they'd found in the attic and let out a frustrated groan when he noticed he'd just gotten _himself_ tangled up in them.

"Here let meh help." With Marie's assistance, he was soon out of the twinkle light's clutches, but he was going to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't take their revenge.

"Ze lights get ze better of you?" Kurt questioned as he hung from the ceiling to decorate the top portion of the tree.

Evan rolled his eyes but gave his friend a grin. "Ya, ya, don't push it in." he went over to the box of decorations to help Kitty.

Logan entered the room with yet _another_ box. To find his daughter surrounded by several piles of untangled, neatly organized lights and a satisfied smile on her face. He looked over at Evan who had been the first to have a go at the lights and found the boy helping Kitty.

Spyke looked over as Wolverine entered the room. "How does she do it?"

Logan shrugged, "I don't know, I just go along with it." He set the box down and grabbed a few strings of lights. "I've been charged by 'Ro to decorate the outside, and there's plenty of room for decorations out there…" he stopped as he found Kitty pulling on her jacket and boots, a determined expression on her face as she took a box of weather worthy decorations outside.

Kurt chuckled at his girlfriend's excitement but swung down and grabbed a string of lights himself to hang on the tree.

The tree itself was huge. It towered high above them and Kurt was the only one who could reach the top by hanging from the chandelier; Logan was going to push it over next to the window when they were done, but for decoration purposes, it was under the light fixture.

After a few hours, the sky outside was dark and the tree was nearly finished.

"Done!" Kitty exclaimed, hanging the last silver snowflake before reaching into the box to pull out a sparkling star. She looked up and gave Kurt a mischievous smile to which he returned one of his own and nodded.

"Hey Rogue…" the Goth girl came over.

"Ya?" Kitty grinned and thrust the star into her hands just as Kurt reappeared behind his sister to grab her around the waist and disappear with her.

They reappeared in a cloud of black smoke, hanging from the chandelier.

"What the?!"

Kurt chuckled, "You get ze job of putting ze star on top." He stated, readjusting his hold on his sister so she wouldn't sip from his grip.

"Uh, are you sure?" she looked at the ground nervously.

"I von't let you fall." He stated seriously in her ear and she gave him a trusting smile.

"Alraght." Hanging from the ceiling by only his tail he carefully lowered his little sister down as she placed the star securely on the top of the large pine tree. He nodded in approval and pulled her tightly to him before 'bamfing' down next to Kitty.

Kitty gave Evan a thumbs up and the boy turned to call out "Hey everyone, we're done!"

Jean, and Logan came in from outside (Jean had been helping Logan hang the lights) while Ororo entered from the kitchen, a smear of flour on her cheek and Hank and the Professor entered from their respective parts of the house.

"Alright, let's see how you did." Ororo walked over to stand next to her nephew and placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned off the lights. After a few seconds the tree lit up, the ornaments sparkling in the lights. Charles clapped and was joined by the rest of the adults as the students smiled at their achievement.

After the lights had been switched back on just enough for everyone to see by, Logan carefully pushed the tree over to its proper place and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing around the tree with various hot drinks.

oOo

"Katzchen…" someone whispered, tickling her ear with their breath. "Katzchen…vake up."

"Mm.." she swiped her hand at whoever it was to be greeted by a chuckle.

"Vake up, Katzchen, I have somezing for you." she mumbled something and burrowed deeper into her blankets. Another chuckle then there was pressure on her lips. She moaned and kissed him back and whimpered when he pulled away.

She opened her eyes; blinking owlishly she spied Kurt over top of her, a wolfish smile on his face. She was immediately wide awake.

"Good morning." He whispered and kissed her gently.

She smiled, "Now _that_ is a way to wake up."

He chuckled. "C'mon, I vas sent to vake you up." She smiled and climbed out of bed. Looking over she noticed that Rogue's bed didn't look slept in.

"She stayed the night vith Logan, an old tradition of zeir's I guess." She nodded and smiled leaning her head against Kurt's shoulder as they walked out of the room at a leisurely pace.

Kurt kept an arm wrapped around his girlfriend's shoulders as they entered the living room. Everyone else was already there and Ororo entered a few minutes after them carrying a tray of hot chocolate, and a couple coffees.

The Professor wheeled over to the tree and with Hank's help, passed out the presents. Kitty smiled at her place next to Kurt as the older man handed her a few of her gifts.

"Merry Christmas you two."

Kurt grinned, "Merry Christmas Professor." Charles smiled and went back over to the tree. Kitty smiled at Kurt and quickly located a certain, emerald wrapped present in his pile.

"Open this one last." She instructed and he chuckled but nodded before handing her a small box with his tail. The present was wrapped in silver wrapping paper and fairly small.

"Open zis one first, zen." She smiled and took the present, carefully ripping the paper off to reveal a small wooden box, and she had a fairly good idea what it held.

She looked over at her boyfriend, "What did you get me?" he smiled and motioned for her to open the box.

She grinned and opened it to reveal a beautiful necklace. The chain was silver and glittered in the light, while a shining aquamarine stone hung form it in a tear drop shape.

Her jaw dropped, "Kurt…it's beautiful." He smiled and lifted it from the box and clasped it behind her neck, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Ich liebe dich." He whispered and she felt a solitary tear run down her cheek to be wiped away by his gentle hand. She gave him a gentle kiss and on the other side of the room, Charles Xavier smiled at their exchange.

"What are you smiling about?" Hank questioned from beside him.

Charles smiled at his old friend, "It's just interesting how things turn out." He replied, looking over the rest of his X Men.

Kurt finally reached the final present that Kitty had set aside for him to open.

He gave her a grin, "Alright, do I have to guess?"

She shook her head, "Just open it."

He pulled off the paper ad revealed a thick scrapbook. He gave her a confused expression but she just smiled, "Open it."

Turning the black and silver cover, he found the first picture to be of one of his first days at the mansion. He was hanging from the chandelier with Evan laid out on the couch. Kitty was curled up in an armchair while Rogue was reading a book in another.

"Ororo took that one." He gave her a quick smile and turned the page, it was the group photo of all the X Men in uniform. Kurt had his arms slung over Rogue and Kitty's shoulders while Evan stood close by.

The rest of the book was filled with a bunch of different photos, including the one of Jean and Scott when they got back from their picnic. Then, and the very last page, he actually stopped for a minute.

"Rogue took that one."

The photo was simple and obviously taken in the moment, but it was of him and Kitty, curled up on the couch, both of them had soft smiles on their faces and were looking quite peaceful as they slept.

He closed the book and rubbed his eyes were tears had tried to fall. He gave her a warm smile and a quick kiss.

"Danke, Katzchen."

She smiled and they sat back to watch the rest of their family.

oOo

Jean tightened her scarf around her neck and watched the snow fall as she stood on the balcony.

"Jean, it's time for dinner." Kurt came up behind her and she turned to the blue mutant. Kurt was dressed that evening in a red, button up shirt that was un-tucked from his black slacks and a bronze cross necklace that hung from a black cord that he'd gotten from Marie.

"You look nice." She commented and he grinned.

"I could say ze same for you." Jean blushed lightly and straightened her green dress. The warm material reached her knees and had long sleeves that complimented her figure.

"Thanks."

The two headed inside to be met up with Kitty, who was wearing a dress similar to Jean, except in light blue and light flowing sleeves instead of tight. The necklace she'd received from Kurt sparkled in the light.

"Jean! Scott's on the phone for you." The red head's face split into a happy smile and she took the phone from Kitty's outstretched hand.

"Thanks Kitty…Hello?" she spoke into the receiver as Kurt and Kitty walked down the hall to the dining room.

"Hey beautiful." Jean giggled at Scott's tone.

"Merry Christmas Jean."

She smiled, "Merry Christmas Scott."

"Hey, I have a job for you."

A confused expression crossed Jean's features, "Alright."

"Go into my bedroom." Jean climbed the stairs and entered his room as instructed, "Now, go to my bedside table and open the drawer, there should be a white wrapped present in it."

She pulled open the drawer and sure enough, there it was.

"Open it." She sat on the bed and ripped off the paper.

She opened the small box to find a chocker settled in it. The base of the chocker was gold and in the center there was an oval shaped ruby.

"Scott…"

"Merry Christmas…I love you." She silently gasped and wiped the tears that had started to fall, away.

"I love you too." She managed to choke out, she swallowed thickly. "Merry Christmas…see you when you get back."

She could see the smile on his face as he replied. "Alright, see you then." She hung up the phone and wasted no time in clasping the necklace at the back of her throat. The cool gold touched her throat and she smiled as she walked down the stairs to dinner.

oOo

"I'm back!" Scott called and before he was almost thrown to the ground as Jean jumped on him in warm hug.

He laughed and hugged her back, "Hey Jean." She smiled up at him and she noticed she was wearing his gift. "I take it you like it then." She nodded and kissed him.

"Hey, we don't need to see that!" Evan called as he came down the stairs. Jean mock glared at him. Logan chuckled as he came in, followed by Marie.

"Welcome back, Scooter."

"Thanks Logan."

oOo

A/N: Wow, that Jott bit was hard to write, but it was for all you Jott fans out there.

All you Jott haters, I apologise, but I had to do it.

-groans and collapses- Review would ya?


	24. New Year, New Beginnings

Chapter 24: New Year, New Beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own.

**YAY for Kurtty chapters! I give you: Kurtty romance that'll give all you romantics out there something fluffy to read!**

Warning: Heavy make-out session in this chapter. Please skip if this offends you.

A/N: I _do_ own the poem so do _not_ use it!

**A/N2: There are tiny hints of Evan and Rogue in this chapter, but people please understand that they're just **_**friends**_**. I just felt like adding some extra fluff and I know **_**exactly**_** who Rogue will be paired with. So, as of now, the poll is closed. Rogue will be properly paired in the sequel.**

A/N3: I _am_ planning a sequel for this story!

oOo

"Ha ha! Too slow!" Kurt bamfed away as Scott tried, once again, to grab him.

Kitty handed some popcorn over to Evan, "What's the score?" she questioned.

"Well, Kurt has, so far, kept the chips away from Scott. And Scott has not succeeded in getting them away from said blue elf." He ate a handful of popcorn.

Marie giggled as Kurt flipped out of harm's way and took to hanging from the chandelier. It was New Year's Eve and the entire mansion was staying up late to celebrate. Kurt, having gotten bored within a few minutes, had snuck into the kitchen and stolen a bag of chips away from Scott. Cyclops had been chasing Nightcrawler around the rec. room now, for a half an hour now, much to everyone else's amusement.

Kurt laughed and finally dropped the bag into Scott's hands, swinging back and forth above them and making Kitty quite dizzy just by watching. Scott sighed and poured the contents of the bag into a bowl and they all settled into their seats, and Kurt dropped down to sit beside Kitty, as the hour mark hit.

Ororo and Logan were talking on one side of the room, while Hank was seated with the Professor and conversing about something that made no sense to any of them, while the TV was blaring in the background with footage of Times Square.

Rogue looked over at her father and smiled, he acted different with Storm, and she had a feeling she knew why.

"Hey guys." She whispered to her friends, mainly Kurt, Kitty and Evan as Jean and Scott were wrapped up in their own conversation.

"Yeah?"

"You know how you're supposed to kiss someone at midnight?"

Kurt gave Kitty a suggestive look and the brunette blushed, "Yeah…" Evan spoke up.

"Well…Ah think we should try and get mah Dad and Ororo ta kiss." She looked at Evan, after all Storm was his aunt.

The African boy was grinning broadly, "That sounds like a great idea!"

Kurt and Kitty nodded their approval.

"So…how do we do it?" Kitty questioned, but Evan snapped his fingers as his 'I have an idea that could possibly have us hijacking the X Jet and escaping to Norway in fear for our lives' expression came onto his face.

"Wait here." He stated, going over to Ororo and Logan. He spoke with them for a few seconds before he dragged his aunt away.

"Vhat is he up too?" Kurt questioned but Rogue shrugged. After a few minutes, the New Years countdown was starting and Ororo was back over next to Logan, a blush staining her cheeks. Evan came over to them, a cheeky grin on his face.

"What did you do?" Kitty asked like she was speaking to a young child who'd been caught with a guilty expression near the cookie jar.

Evan shrugged and grinned as they all stood with the New Year's countdown going strong. "Just set some stuff up, now come on, it is nearly 2009!"[1] They all started counting down together and Evan double checked he had something in his hand.

"7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!" Everyone yelled out and Kurt drew Kitty to him in a kiss, while Scott did the same with Jean.

Evan grinned and turned to Rogue who didn't notice, "Happy New Year, Marie." He whispered and she turned. He brought up an extremely shear scarf and placed it in-between their lips as he gave her a quick, but warm kiss.

When he pulled away, Rogue looked stunned, but an ecstatic smile lit up her face and her eyes grew glassy. "Thanks Evan."

He gave her a warm smile, "What are friends for?" in truth, he'd heard her with Kitty one night, she was quite nearly crying about how she couldn't actually be with someone like she was with Kurt.

"Just to do something normal lahke kiss someone at midnight on New Year's would be fahne!" had been her exact words and Evan had set his plan into action the very next day.

On the other side of the room, Ororo looked up through her lashes at Logan, "Happy New Year." She whispered and leaned up, giving the man a fleeting kiss. Logan looked stunned before he kissed her back. The weather witch quite nearly moaned, before remembering they were in public and tried to keep the kiss PG-14.

Evan grinned when he saw the position his aunt was in, before quickly looking away. He was happy for her, sure, but she was still his aunt.

The party lasted for a few more hours, Marie eventually pulling Evan to the side and asking him why he'd done what he did. Always the one to be honest with his friends, he told her the truth. She had done nothing but smile, and tell him how sweet he was.

A friend doing another friend a favour; that was enjoyed by both.

oOo

After New Years, everything wound down to some semblance of normal. Everyone went back to school and regular training.

Homework was still a pain in the ass, as were the Brotherhood boys, but they survived, only having to play the heroes occasionally when the Hoods thought it would be fun to cause random chaos and destruction.

Kitty doubted Toad would ever be able to sit down comfortably again after he tried to flirt with her during one of those fights and Kurt had quite happily kicked the disgusting smelling boy's butt, saying later that he had no idea why Toad would wince every time he saw him at school.

Kitty played with her pasta as she sat outside for Lunch. Evan was in detention, he wouldn't say why, Jean and Scott were missing, Rogue was home sick and Kurt was…somewhere. So Shadowcat had chosen to set up her Lunch under the shade of some trees at a usually unused picnic table.

"Guten Tag." A familiar voice greeted and Kurt sat down across from her, his plate piled high with food. She grinned and leant over to give him a quick kiss.

"Hello yourself." Kurt grinned and the two ate in comfortable silence. After Kurt was done he dug through his bag before he pulled out a blue covered notebook and a pen and set to work writing something.

"Whatcha writin?" Kitty asked as she took a bight of her sandwich.

He grinned, "Nothing." She raised an eyebrow but left it alone. The bell rang a few minutes later and Kurt walked her to her locker before leaving for his own class.

oOo

"Hey Fuzzy…you in here?" Kitty poked her head into her boyfriend's room to find it empty and the lights switched off, she should have expected this, really. On evenings like this, when the moon was full and the sky was cloudless, Kurt loved to run around in the forest; he now knew it like the back of his hand.

Especially on nights like tonight, when it was warm without being stifling, it would have been a miracle to find the elf in the house.

She sighed and noticed he'd left his desk an absolute mess, which wasn't in character for the elf, but I guess when you notice how it is outside, you drop everything else. She started to put away his things, organizing stray pieces of paper and homework. At the very bottom of the pile, she found that blue covered book he'd been writing in earlier. It was open to a page that was covered by his familiar writing on one side, and a sketched portrait of what looked like an angel on the other.

On closer inspection, she noticed that it was her. Dressed in a flowing dress and with elegant, but strong looking wings, but her nonetheless. Her jaw dropped, Kurt had captured her looking elegant and regal while still smiling brightly, it was actually quite a work of art and the likeness was uncanny.

"Wow…" she whispered and then looked at the writing on the page opposite it. "My Angel…" whispered and started reading.

I miss you,

Dear one,

You flew away.

Velvet wings,

Lifted you from my arms.

Drift away,

My haloed saviour.

Pull me with you.

My angel, will you hear...

A demon's prayer?

One of a kind

That's what you call me.

Your life's mission, is to make me see,

Something beyond

My dark plight.

Wrap your wings around me,

Protect me,

Come Hell or high water.

I love you, my angel.

Please hear a demons prayer.

Give or take, my dear

Hold you high...

My angel, fallen from heaven,

I'll protect you.

Cause you heard a demon's prayer.

Kitty felt tears prick her eyes and she wiped them away quickly as she left the journal open on the desk. She licked her lips, tasting the salt of her tears and left the room. Her chest ached, the poem was beautiful and it touched her greatly. So much in fact, it nearly hurt. If she'd ever been unsure about how Kurt felt about her, she certainly had no doubts now.

She licked her lips again and raced outside, heading straight to the forest. She rounded a bend of trees; she could barely see the mansion the trees were so thick and tall now.

"Kurt!" she cried out, "Kurt Where are you?!" a rustling came right before Kurt bounded out, his face panicked.

"Keety, vhat's vrong?!" he stood and grasped her shoulders, alarmed by her tears.

Kitty took in Kurt's form, he had forgone a shirt, his chest was heaving and his hair had a slightly messed look that made him breathtakingly handsome.

"Keety, are you okay?" he looked into her teary eyes and was taken by surprise when she captured his lips in a sweet kiss. He gasped, but his arms wrapped around her thin form and held her in a warm embrace. Her arms found their way around his neck and brought her as close to him as she could possibly get.

He pulled away carefully, "Katzchen, vh-vhat's going on?" she blushed and avoided his gaze.

"I'm sorry, but I read that journal of yours and I read that one poem…about me."

He knew the exact one she talking about and bit his lip, "Look I…" she cut him off with her lips and pulled away.

"You are the most amazing person on the planet…you know that?" he gave her a small grin and put his forehead against hers.

"I love you…so much." It was true, his heart came close to bursting whenever she told him she loved him, and he never thought it would be possible to want to be with someone so much.

She gave him a brilliant smile, unknowingly displaying one of the things that had inspired his drawing of her as an angel.

"I know…" she captured his lips and the kiss they shared was almost worshipping. They were wrapped up in their own little world and brought to light something most people disagree with, the idea of soul mates and true love. Both were true for the young couple as Kurt bamfed them to his room.

The door was locked as the only person who he would want to come in uninvited didn't need to use as a door and he could easily port himself throughout the house.

Kurt's kisses became passionate and Kitty felt herself fall back onto his bed. The room was cool, but she didn't notice that as Kurt was quite a good blanket. She smiled into the kiss and began running her fingers through his fur, she felt his tail seeking out every curve on her body. She knew for a fact that they wouldn't go far, but this was would be a position she wouldn't mind returning to.

They broke apart for air and Kurt leaned down so his mouth was close to her ear and when he spoke, his breath tickled her skin.

"I love you."

She made a noise of agreement and her eyes slipped closed, "I love you too." They seemed to have said those words so many times, but they always had incredible significance in certain moments, like right then.

"Never leave?" she questioned.

"Never leave." He answered their always important message to each other.

They fell back into another kiss and Kitty found herself moaning into his mouth as his fangs grazed her lips, nearly drawing blood. They wouldn't go that far…at least, not tonight.

oOo

A/N: Yep, that was most certainly interesting to write, but I'm a romantic, so sue me.

Well, I didn't know if I should've had it go to 2010 or not. Let know what you think will you?


	25. Interlude: It Comes Together

Chapter 25: Interlude: It Comes Together

Disclaimer: I don't own

**A/N: Very short chapter, but I needed a filler to lead up to the finale. **

oOo

Evan dutifully scribbled down the notes of the board, aside from the quiet whispers of his fellow classmates of the scritch-scratch of pens and pencils on paper, the classroom was mainly silent.

Beside him, Kurt had his chin resting in his palm and his elbow on the desk as he stared out the window with a far way expression. Evan rolled his eyes and elbowed his friend. The German came back to himself and looked at Evan.

"Stop spacing out, man...What's up with you anyway, you've been dreamy all day." Kurt grinned sheepishly and quickly finished the notes. At the front of the class, a hologram hidden Mr. McCoy looked over his class.

Kurt sighed, "Sorry." He muttered, but a few minutes later he was off in dream land again. Evan rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation.

The bell rang a few minutes after and the class started gathering their books.

"No homework for the evening and I'll see you tomorrow, class." Mr. McCoy shouted over the sound of twenty something teenagers talking to one another.

Kurt was out of his seat and through the door in several seconds, leaving Evan to exit the classroom last, as usual.

Evan chuckled and Hank spoke up, "Care to tell me why Mr. Wagner was so eager to leave?"

Spyke grinned, "Lunch, plus Kitty? I'm surprised he was as slow as he was." Hank laughed at that and gathered his things, leaving after Evan and locking the door to go to Lunch himself.

When Evan finally made it outside with his Lunch, it was to find everyone else already seated underneath several trees. Kurt and Kitty were seated against the thick trunk, and speaking in hushed tones. The two seemed even more inseparable than usual. Marie was fiddling with a stick as she people watched and she grinned at Evan as he sat down next to her. Scott and Jean were off at a picnic table nearby.

"Hey Porcupine."

Evan grinned at the Goth, "Hey, how was your morning?" he questioned as he dug into his lunch.

Marie giggled, "Well, Kitty's been spacey all day, so fairly entertaining."

"Kit too? Kurt's been somewhere else as well." Spyke and Rogue looked over at their friends, who were only wrapped up in themselves.

Marie rolled her eyes, "Typical, now they can be spacey together!" Evan snorted and the rest of Lunch was spent in comfortable conversation.

oOo

Logan finished something on his bike and sat up, wiping grease of his hands.

"So, are you coming in for lunch, or are you staying out here all day?" Ororo appeared behind him and he grinned.

"Yeah I could go for some food." The two mutants headed into the kitchen where Storm had prepared a large platter of sandwiches.

"Logan…can I ask you something?"

Logan nodded, "'Course 'Ro."

She sucked in a breath, "What are you and I, exactly?" her question was quiet and pulled Logan up short.

"Um…well, what do you want us to be?" he asked back, quietly, feeling like he had just been thrown onto a battleground by himself and without a weapon.

"Well, I'd like us to be more than friends." The albino haired woman couldn't meet his eyes in fear of rejection.

"So that kiss, wasn't just in the moment?" she looked up, Logan was looking strangely open and almost vulnerable.

She smiled, "I was hoping it wouldn't have been the only one, actually."

Logan grinned and leaned over the counter so they were nearly nose to nose. "That can be arranged…" his lips were soon over hers and she felt the rest of the world fade away.

oOo

Professor Xavier clicked the okay button and sat back in his chair with a grin. "And it all comes together."

He made his way out of his study and down to his waiting car and a driver he had hired to drive him for the day. A few minutes later, there was no sign the car had ever been there, and the Professor was gone with it, leaving an empty mansion.

oOo

A/N: Sorry for the shortness, but you have been given another plot twist!

Please review!


	26. Demons Live

Chapter 26: Demons Live

A/N: This is by far one of my favourite chapters. I hope you like it.

**A/N2: And finally, Kurt get's a break.**

Disclaimer: I don't own X Men: Evolution, I must go curl up and sob now.

oOo

Kurt blinked as he stared up at his ceiling.

~_Maybe I could pretend to be sick so I could stay in bed all day. ~_ he thought when he caught sigh of the calendar.

Ten years ago today, he had been seven years old and nearly killed, losing his parents in the process. He growled as Conner's sneering face came to mind.

~_What I wouldn't do to tear him limb from limb. ~_

"Kurt! Hey Kurt, are you ready man?" Evan's voice drifted through the door and Kurt looked up from where he'd been trying to meld his face into his pillow.

He sighed and stood up, a bit wobbly for some reason. He unlocked his door and looked out.

"Wow, you look awful."

Kurt chuckled forcefully, "Danke Evan."

Evan shook his head and forced himself into the room, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and pushing him back to his bed.

"There is no way you're going to school today. Just try and get some rest, okay?" Kurt nodded, he didn't even have to put on an act; guess the lack of sleep and nightmares last night had some use.

"Feel better, just so you know, Kit home as well, really bad cough." Kurt nodded again, but was already half asleep.

"Feel better buddy." Evan closed the door quietly behind him and crept down the hall to tell his Aunt, Kurt wouldn't be at school either.

oOo

Marie knocked on the Professor's door, and upon receiving no answer, entered to find the study completely empty.

"Professor?" she looked around before she came to the conclusion that he wasn't there.

Going downstairs she found her friends in the kitchen. Kitty looking much better than she had a few days ago, her cough having cleared up, but Kurt still looked like death warmed up with a blue (no pun intended) expression on his face.

Evan was drinking half a carton of milk and Logan was sitting at the table with a beer and the paper.

"Has anyone seen tha Professor?" she asked.

"Nope, in fact, I haven't seen him in a while." Kitty got a confused expression. Everyone else shook their heads negative.

Logan fell into his determined mode and stood. "Yer sure he wasn't in his office?" she nodded and with everyone else, followed her father back upstairs.

"Fan out, see if you can find anything that might tell us where he went."

Jean and Scott joined them in a few minutes, having gotten the news that Charles was missing from Storm.

"Hey, I found something!" Kitty exclaimed as she found some stray papers on the desk. "They're flight confirmations." She stated as everyone crowded around her. "To Germany." She finished and everyone looked confused.

"Okay, here's the plan. If Chuck doesn't turn up in a few days, we'll go look for him." Everyone nodded in agreement and dispersed.

oOo

A few days later and there still wasn't word from the Professor so Logan instructed everyone to meet him in the entryway.

Kurt's heavy steps proceeded his entrance down to the main entry way, his fellow X-Men looked up, hopeful expressions on their faces, unfortunately, those expressions soon fell away, Kurt still wasn't acting like himself.

Kitty felt her bottom lip trembling, he had been like this for an entire week now, and she wanted her boyfriend back. The one who would always pop up randomly and scare her, who would hug her tightly and wipe away her tears. Who would kiss her with so much love it almost made her cry. She wanted this black wearing, depressed and apparently sleep deprived creature that had taken her Nightcrawler's place to leave.

"Alright," Wolverine began, "Now that we're all here, I can tell ya what's going ta happen; Rogue, you Kitty and Kurt are going to go into town and ask people if they've seen tha Professor. Kurt," the blue mutant looked up sharply to show he was listening, "Yer the only one who can actually speak to these people, none of us barely know two words of German, yer gonna have ta take tha lead in this one. So keep it together." Kurt nodded. "Alright, Ororo, Jean, Scott, Evan, you four are gonna stay here just in case, now let's go."

The four X-Men boarded the Blackbird, Kurt trailing behind, wishing he could stay behind as well; he didn't want to go back to Germany especially considering the date.

~_Why now, of all times?!~_ he thought, trying to keep himself calm.

Although after almost a week with barely any sleep, he was pretty emotionally drained. The plane took off and they flew in silence for several hours.

When they touched down in a forest only a mile or so away from the closest town, Rogue and Kitty unbuckled themselves and turned to see Kurt was staring out the window, his face emotionless, but his eyes flashing with fury and sadness. With a sigh, the half demon mutant turned on his image inducer, cloaking his true appearance.

"Let's go, ze sooner ve find ze Professor ze better." Kurt led the way out of the plane, leaving behind a concerned Wolverine.

The trio went through town, asking almost everyone they came to if they'd seen their mentor. They were about to give up hope, when finally, a little girl who seemed to be about the age of six tugged on Kitty's skirt.

Kitty smiled down at the little girl, "Guten Tag." Kitty greeted.

The little girl smiled up at her, Kurt crouched down as well and the little girl started speaking in rapid German. Kurt gave her a friendly smile, (though to Kitty it seemed fairly forced) when she was finished and seemed to thank her before the little girl skipped back to her mother.

"She had seen ze Professor. Follow me." Rogue and Kitty followed Kurt as he led them up a path, a path that Kurt wished he'd never have to go up because the last time he had run up it, he'd been scared about what he might find, it led to his childhood home.

When they reached the cottage, Kurt became quite surprised; the house looked just as it had when he'd been growing up. There was a fresh coat of paint, the garden was in full bloom with a range of colourful flowers and the grass was lush and green.

Taking a breath and pushing the painful memories of his parents away, Kurt opened the gate and strode to the door, rapping on the wood three times before stepping back.

A man, seeming to be in his early forties, opened the door, smiling tiredly. He took in their appearance, though his eyes stayed on Kurt for a few seconds longer.

"Can I help you?" the man questioned, his accent even thicker than Kurt's.

Kitty stepped forward with a friendly smile, "I hope so. We're looking for our Professor." She handed over the picture they had been showing everyone and the man nodded.

"Ah jes, he zaid some uv his students might be coming to find him. Follow me." He handed the photo back to Kitty and stepped back to let them enter.

Kurt kept his head lowered in fear of what the sight of his old home might do to him. ~_When I get home, I'm going to breakdown and sob into my pillow~_ he decided.

The man led them into the sitting room, where Charles was sitting with a woman who seemed to be of the same age as her husband.

Xavier looked up and smiled broadly, "I was wondering when you'd track me down." Rogue, a little irritated that he was being so calm, glared a bit.

"What were ya thinkin'? Comin' all tha way to Germany, and not even tellin' us?" Rogue crossed her arms, but Xavier's smiled only grew.

"I have a very good reason. Kurt, come here please." Kurt complied, missing the looks of sadness and loss that crossed the German couple's faces.

"Jes Professor?"

"Please turn off your watch." Kurt looked up sharply, his eyes darting to the couple in worry before looking back at the Professor.

"Trust me Kurt." Kurt nodded and slowly pressed the button that kept his hologram up revealing his natural form. His tail uncurled from its place around his waist to hang behind him, the spaded tip twitching nervously.

There was silence for a few seconds before the woman let out a sob, "Kurt?" she whispered faintly.

The blue mutant's ears perked up and he looked over to the couple. The Professor backed up slowly and motioned for the girls to remain silent.

The man walked forward, staring at Kurt. The woman followed and soon she was looking up at Kurt, she slowly reached up, he was a few inches taller than her, but still shorter than her husband, and ran a hand over his cheek. Kurt remained in place, not moving an inch.

"Kurt, iz zat v_really_ you?" the man questioned faintly.

Kurt looked over at the man and his golden eyes widened with recognition. He looked back and forth between the two.

"Nightcrawler?" the woman's voice was faint, as if she thought she were dreaming.

"Mama? Papa?" Kurt spoke slowly and quietly, the names he hadn't used for so long feeling strange on his tongue. The woman reached out, placing a hand on Kurt's cheek before a sob escaped her, because no other person in the world could look like her baby.

"You're alive." She whispered, not wanting to blink in fear her son would disappear. Kurt was unable to say anything, these were his parents in front of him, and he wasn't dreaming. He choked out a sob before falling into his mother's waiting arms, crying into her shoulder, his entire form shaking. His father wrapped his arms around the two, holding them tightly, with tears falling from his own eyes.

Anna Wagner stroked Kurt's hair; it was much longer than it had been when he was a child. She sobbed, crying tears of happiness, _her baby was alive_.

In the background, Kitty's face was wet with tears, Rogue was wiping furiously at her own and even the Professor had tears of joy pooling in his eyes.

The Wagner's broke apart and Kurt looked over at his mentor, "Y-you found mein parents." He stated; his voice thick with emotion.

Charles nodded, smiling happily, he had been searching for the boy's parents ever since he had joined them, he had found many leads, but never had he found the real Wagners. Finally, though, he had hit gold, and had staged his disappearance, knowing that Kurt would come seeing as he was the only one who could speak German.

His thoughts were interrupted, though, when a furry, blue mass hugged him tightly, "Zank you Professor."

Charles hugged the boy quickly. "You deserve it." He smiled as Kurt jumped back to his parents, both of which felt like they were living in a dream.

Kitty felt warm tears rushing down her cheeks, she had missed Kurt's smile and seeing it again in such wonderful circumstances made her want to scream with joy and tackle the boy, but she held back, letting him have his moment with his parents. The blue mutant spoke quickly in German to his parents before dragging both her and Rogue over.

"Mama, Papa, zis is Kitty and Marie. Mein girlfriend and mein foster sister." He gave a quick explanation about how he and Rogue were related before Anna Wagner gave Rouge a brilliant smile and a warm hug.

"Velcome to ze family, hon." Rogue felt tears start to leak from her eyes all over again, something told her this was where Kurt got his caring nature.

Arnold grinned broadly and hugged Rogue tightly as well, "Velcome mein dear." He gave her a smile, his eyes twinkling.

Kitty smiled brightly, but was surprised when Anna hugged her tightly, giving her warm hug that only a caring mother can truly give, and it was one that Kitty had never received from her own mother. Anna kissed her forehead, giving her a smile that made Kitty feel warm from head to toe, but not with embarrassment.

Arnold gave her a goofy grin, "Vell, I never sought mein boy vould be friend's vith such a beautiful young girl."

Kitty blushed and Kurt playfully cuffed his father's shoulder, "Don't scare her Dad."

Arnold laughed and mussed Kurt's hair, "Son, if you couldn't scare her, who could?" Kurt laughed at that and wrapped his tail around Kitty's waist, bringing her next to him.

The Professor spoke up, "Well, Anna, Arnold? Would you like to come back with us to the states? Even for a short visit, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, you three _do_ have school on Monday; the weekend only lasts so long." Kurt grinned, and looked up at his parents hopefully.

The smiled at him, "Ve vould love to."

Kurt grinned. "I'll help you pack." Anna laughed; she had forgotten how exuberant Kurt could be when he was excited.

"Alvright, alvright, zettle down you. Before you knock over anozzer lamp." She scolded playfully. Kurt chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks gained a purple tinge.

Kitty giggled, "Can I help?"

Anna smiled at her, "Jes zank you, follow me you two." The three left Arnold, Rogue and the Professor to head upstairs.

Kurt was still grinning goofily, he honestly felt like breaking out into song and dance, or maybe kissing Kitty, anything really. They entered the master bedroom and Anna pulled out three suitcases, quickly telling her two helpers what to grab and where it was.

Between the three of them, they finished packing in a matter of minutes. Being as excited as he was, Kurt became very impatient and simply grabbed a bag with his tail, looped an arm around his mother and Kitty, each of which were holding another suitcase, and ported them downstairs, to the surprise of Arnold who jumped at their sudden appearance.

He looked at his son for about a second before laughing loudly. "I _knew_ mein son vould be able to do somezing amazing vone day!" he exclaimed happily.

Kurt joined his father in laughing. "Come on, mah Dad must be getting impatient." Marie informed them, of course when she said impatient, she meant worried and five seconds from running into town himself and demanding where they were, of course using his claws to get the people to cooperate.

Kurt turned his inducer back on, wrapping his tail around his stomach.

The group made their way back through town and to the plane; Kurt had explained everything to his parents in German on their way there.

Logan met them at the ramp, a relieved expression on his face when he saw that they were all in one piece. He did a double take when he saw Kurt smiling and speaking with an older couple, but a quick mental conversation between him and Charles cleared everything up.

Once everything was stowed and introductions made, they were in the air, heading back to the institute. Kurt and his parents continued to chat in the back of the plane, catching up with each other. Before the expected happened and Kurt's many sleepless nights caught up with him, he yawned widely and soon he was laying across the seats, his head on his mother's lap as she stroked his hair and fur lovingly. Arnold kept an arm around his wife and an eye on his son. His boy was alive, he couldn't believe it. Kurt slept quietly, happy and content being watched over by his parents.

Kitty crept up silently; taking in the scene, happy her friend was finally peaceful.

"Hallo Keety." Anna greeted.

Kitty smiled back, and started speaking before she lost her nerve. "I'm really glad the Professor found you." She spoke softly.

Arnold grinned up at her, "And vhy is zat?"

Kitty sighed and sat across from them, "Well, Kurt's been my best friend ever since he came to the Institute, and he's been really depressed for the last little while, which is really strange for him. After all, he's the optimist on the team. So, I'm just glad he's finally got you guys back."

Arnold smiled happily at her, before looking down at his slumbering son. "We didn't mean to leave him." He whispered. Kitty nodded, she knew that wasn't the case.

Anna sighed, brushing her fingers through Kurt's fur again, "We thought he was dead. They tried to burn him at the stake you know." Kitty nodded again, slower this time, fighting the feeling of nausea she always got when she thought about someone actually trying to burn her best friend.

"After a time, ze fire died out, he vas just hanging zere limply. Zey vouldn't let us near him, and zey took him out to ze forest, ze priest yelled out zat zey had slain ze demon. Ve packed up and left zat night, ve couldn't stand to stay zere." Kitty nodded, hearing the notes of pain that filled Anna's voice.

"Ve zought ve'd lost him forever." Arnold chocked out and brushed a hand through Kurt's fur himself, as if assuring himself he was actually there.

"Kurt's amazing you know. He's saved my life more times than I can remember, comforted me when I cried, listened to me when I ranted. He let me do and say anything, as long as it made me feel better. And of course, he always enjoys popping up out of nowhere and scaring anyone out of three years of their life. He's a big practical joker." Kitty smiled, taking in Kurt's relaxed form.

Anna elbowed Arnold and he grinned nervously at his wife. "He gets zat from his fazzer." She explained. And Kitty let a giggle escape. They spoke for a few more hours as they flew, Kurt still sleeping peacefully.

As they began to descend, Kurt opened his eyes and blinked owlishly. He sat up and stretched, grinning brightly at Kitty.

"Morning Fuzzy." She smirked. He returned with a grin of his own as the plane touched down and came to a halt. Kurt and Kitty helped his parents with their bags and followed Rogue, Logan and Charles off the plane.

The rest of the X-Men were waiting for them and everyone let out a collective sigh when they saw the Professor. Kurt grinned evilly and set down the bag he had been carrying. With a soft 'bamf' he disappeared and then reappeared on Scott's shoulders.

"Guten Tag!" he greeted jovially.

He leapt off Scott's shoulders, grinning happily before Evan spoke, "Dude. You're back to normal!" he exclaimed.

That broke everyone from their surprised daze and they laughed happily, grabbing Kurt in a large group hug, patting his back and messing up his hair. Kurt just shrugged and walked back over to the ramp after he had broken away from his team, taking a bag from Kitty.

Needless to say, everyone was shocked when they were introduced to the Wagners, Ororo greeted them happily and Evan was glad to introduce himself to his best mate's parents.

oOo

Later that night, Kurt was to be found crouching on his balcony railing, watching the sun set. Kitty walked up beside him, leaning against the railing. She had stolen one of his hoodies, a red one which she had pulled on to keep warm. It drowned her and fell to the middle of her thighs, but Kurt thought she looked beautiful.

She smiled up at him, "Good day?" he laughed and climbed off, going behind her, he wrapped his arms around Kitty's thin form and hugged her to him, setting his head on top of hers as they stood together.

"Vone of ze best." He nuzzled her gently and wrapped his tail around her stomach.

She sighed, "I'm glad you're back."

She felt Kurt nod. "Ich liebe dich, Katzchen."

Kitty bit her lip."Ich liebe dich, Kurt." He then leaned down and captured her lips in a sweet kiss that she returned happily. When they pulled away, they were both smiling happily.

"I love you Katherine Pryde." He whispered.

"I love you too Kurt Wagner." Their lips met in another passionate kiss.

oOo

A/N: No, that's not the end! There's a few more chapters to come but I hope you enjoyed this one!


	27. Clear of Mind

Chapter 27: Clear of Mind

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, and for some people, stuff you _don't_ recognize.

"Focus now, Marie, focus." She squeezed her eyes closed, a headache making her head throb and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

"Almost there…" she bit her lip before a strange feeling washed over her, it was almost like when she phased with Kitty, except this feeling was light warmth spreading over her skin instead of like walking through an unmoving wall of water.

She opened her eyes slowly to see the Professor smiling at her, "Well done."

He placed a hand on her cheek and she gasped. Skin to skin contact, for the first time in her remembered life.

"Your father is in his room.

Tears washed down her cheeks as she scrambled from her chair and pulled off her gloves, leaving them on the chair along with her shear green top, leaving her in a black tank top. She ran down the corridors and to her father's room.

"Dad! Dad!" she through open the door and he stood quickly, looking ready to fight.

"What is it?! What's wrong?!" She smiled brightly and jumped on him, her arms wrapping around his neck and her cheek touching his.

"Marie?" he whispered softly.

"Ah can touch!" she kissed his cheek.

Logan pushed her away slightly and stared at her before a brilliant smile lit up his face. He picked her up by the waist and started spinning her around, laughing loudly and happily. She joined him in his laughter and a little while they headed downstairs together.

When they reached the stairs they saw Kurt, Kitty and Evan looking up at them with worried expressions.

"We heard yelling what's…." Evan was cut off as Rogue jumped on him in a tight hug, their arms brushing against one another. Evan froze, not seeming to understand what was going on.

Kurt caught on quickly though, and whooped before tackling his sister off of Evan. He hugged her tightly and lost all control over his tongue as he started speaking in rapid and happy German.

"I don't speak German, Blue!" she laughed.

Kurt shook himself, "You can touch!" he exclaimed before falling back into German. Logan chuckled and shook his head at the kids' antics.

Kitty pushed Kurt off her roommate and helped her up before hugging her, "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed.

Ororo ran into the room, alerted by the children's yells. Her eyebrows knitted together and she was stunned by the sight that met her eyes.

Kurt was flipping around the room, literally bouncing off the walls, Kitty and Rogue were laughing and jumping up and down and Evan and Logan were both laughing loudly and happily.

"What on _Earth_ is going on here?" she laughed.

"Aunty O! Rogue can touch!" Evan exclaimed.

oOo

Evan took a nervous breath and knocked on Kurt's door. If anyone could help him, the blue elf could.

Nightcrawler opened the door, "Hey, vhat's up?"

Evan sighed, "Um, are you alone?" Kurt nodded, looking confused. "Can I talk to you, then?" He nodded and stood aside, letting his friend enter.

Evan looked around Kurt's room as his friend shut the door. It had been three weeks ago that his parents had been found and only one week ago since they went back to Germany. Kurt exchanged letters with them several times a week. The reason this was important was because of one of the newest additions to the photos that decorated his room. Kitty had dug up Marie's camera and snapped a photo of Kurt and his parents, which had been framed and placed on his bedside table next to the one of her and Kurt together.

"Look…man how do I put this? I need your advice on something, 'cause every time I think about it my stomach flips and start shaking so bad I've nearly destroyed my room several times."

Kurt's 'worried for all humanity' expression came onto his face and he placed a hand on his friends shoulder.

They reappeared out in the gardens with a soft 'bamf'. "Valk and talk, it's easier zat vay."

Evan nodded and swallowed. "Okay, here's the thing...Aunty O always told me how much my Mom loved me right?" Kurt nodded. "Well, it's just, yeah I love my Mom, and sure I don't remember her, but still." Kurt nodded again. "It's just…Aunty O was the one who raised me and I just…"

"You vant to be able to call her your mozzer because she's the one that's always been zhere." Kurt stated with absolute certainty.

Evan looked up, startled and Kurt shrugged, "My mozzer iz Mystique, but ze woman who is mein real mozzer is Anna Vagner." He smiled and Evan felt his nerves calm.

"I knew there was a reason I wanted to talk to you about this!" Kurt laughed and Evan gave his friend a quick, one-armed hug. "Thanks man."

Kurt gave him a thumbs up, before smirking and placing a hand on Spyke's shoulder.

They reappeared outside of Storm's room.

"No time like the present." He chided and ported away. Evan grinned nervously before turning and opening the door before he lost his nerve.

"Hey Aunty O, can I talk to you?"

His aunt smiled at him, "Of course, my Sun. I always have time for you." She stood from her desk to sit on the bed and opened her arms to him.

He shut the door and moved to sit next to her. "Well I've been thinking for a while, and actually I spoke with Kurt and asked his opinion, so I'm just going to ask. Would," Evan cleared his throat and Ororo bit off a chuckle, she had a habit of doing that when she was nervous as well. "Would it be alright if I called you…Mom, instead of Aunty O? Please?" his brown eyes were pleading as he looked up at her.

Ororo was frozen, but nodded, smiling as her eyes filled with happy tears. "Yes, yes of course you can." His smile was blinding and he hugged her tightly. She hugged him back; something in her told her that this was what Viv would have wanted.

oOo

A/N: And so closes those two story lines. Problems have been resolved, family has been found and we are nearing the end my friends, only two chapters to go.

Now, all I ask is that you review!


	28. Interlude: Reflections

Chapter 28: Interlude: Reflections

Disclaimer: -hums while staring off into space-

WARNING: **CUTE** AHEAD!

Anna and Arnold Wagner:

_We were always so careful, we never had anyone over, we lived up the path and in the forest, surrounded by trees. We told him that while we loved him no matter what he looked like, other people may not be so understanding about his appearance. _

_Nothing we did could have saved him that day though; our little Kurt was killed by people who were too obsessed with looks that they didn't stop to think for _once_ that they were murdering a little boy._

Anna looked up from her journal as her husband placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned, revealing her tear-streaked face. "It's been ten years, darling, it's," he cleared his throat as he choked up, "It's time to move on, he wouldn't have wanted us to be sad."

Anna sobbed, "He would be seventeen now."

Arnold nodded and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "I know, I know."

"I miss him…so much." Arnold nodded again. "I want my son back!" She cried into his shoulder.

"Go lay down, my dear, I'll make you some tea." Anna nodded and stumbled up the stairs.

~_My little boy, I miss you so much, son. ~_ Arnold thought as he watched her.

oOo

_A five-year old Kurt climbed the wall and hid in the ceiling supports, giggling quietly. Anna smiled and continued to pretend to read, Kurt had become obsessed with climbing anything and everything, and he was also becoming quite the prankster, taking after her husband. _

"_Kurt, sweetie, be careful now." _

"_Okay, Mama!" he grinned down at her, showing of his slightly longer than normal canines as he did so, she had no doubt they would become much longer and sharper as he grew up, she was even contemplating saying her son would eventually have fangs, but she didn't want to scare her already shy child. _

"_I'm home!" Kurt's eyes lit up at the sound of his father's voice. As the older man walked in, he was jumped on by a flying ball of blue fur. _

"_Papa!" _

_Arnold laughed, "Hey there, Nightcrawler! Have you been good for your Mama?" _

_Kurt nodded quickly, "I helped Mama in the garden today, we picked carrots, and peas and berries and potatoes and tomatoes…" the little boy continued to relay his day to his father as fast as he possibly could as the man greeted his wife and settled in his chair with his son on his lap, stroking the boy's fur with care…_

Anna sobbed, why did those days have to end so soon?

"Anna?" she looked up and dried her face.

"Yes?"

"A man is here to speak with us." Anna got up, smoothing her skirt and followed her husband down to meet a bald man in a wheelchair named Charles Xavier.

A few hours later, there was another knock on the door. Arnold got up to answer it.

"It's probably a few of my students." Charles informed them.

Arnold opened the door and was greeted by the forms of three teenagers. A shorter brunette girl with blue eyes, smiling gently, a taller, darker haired girl with two white streaks of hair framing her face and a tall boy with dark, blue black hair and sad, cobalt blue eyes. He actually looked very familiar, but Arnold couldn't match a name to the face.

"Can I help you?"

The short brunette stepped forward, "I hope so. We're looking for our Professor." She handed him a photo of Charles and he suppressed a small grin.

"Ah jes, he zaid some uv his students might be coming to find him. Follow me." Arnold handed the photo back and stepped aside to allow them entrance.

As they came in, the boy lowered his head for some reason, but Arnold put it aside as shyness. Arnold led them into the sitting room to greet their Professor. He found it funny as the darker clothed girl told off the older man.

When the Professor called over the boy, Kurt, Anna felt her heart clench, it was just their luck that one of this man's students would have the same name as their son.

"Jes Professor?"

"Please turn off your watch." Anna watched in confusion as a panicked expression came onto the boy's face.

"Trust me Kurt."

The boy slowly lifted his wrist and pressed a button on his watch, his image flickered before it disappeared to be replaced by a very familiar one. A tall, slightly hunched over demon now stood in the middle of their sitting room. The boy now had pointed ears, a spaded tail, which was twitching nervously, and he was covered from head to foot in deep blue fur.

Arnold walked forward in a dreamlike state and Anna came up behind him. Kurt didn't move, stiff and tense.

"Kurt, is that _really_ you?" Arnold whispered, scared she was about to wake up. The boy looked up, his gold eyes wide; both the Wagners realized that his eyes had changed from the light hazel they'd been when he was a child to a bright, fiery gold.

"Nightcrawler?" their nickname for him rolled off her tongue and his eyes lit up with recognition.

"Mama? Papa?" his voice was deeper than they remembered and it appeared Anna had been right when she guessed his small canines would turned into longer and sharper fangs.

Anna placed a hand on Kurt's cheek, taking in her son's face. Nightcrawler seemed frozen. The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he choked out a sob before falling into Anna's waiting arms.

She felt his tears soak her shoulder as she stroked his hair, crying her own joyful tears; whispering in German a prayer of heartfelt thanks to God for bringing back her son. Arnold wrapped his arms around the two of them.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Anna heard Kurt whisper.

"You're never losing us again, I promise my dear." She replied, still sobbing and never wanting to let go of her son.

The two Wagners were vaguely aware of the two girls that had come with Kurt sobbing in the background_. _

_~They must be really close if they're this affected by everything. ~_

The family slowly moved away from each other, taking in each other for the first time in ten years.

Kurt looked over at his mentor with tearful eyes, "Y-you found my parents."

Charles nodded. And Anna and Arnold both smiled brightly as Kurt hugged the man tightly; it seemed that Kurt was still the same as they remembered.

The boy bounded back over to them, "I want to introduce you to some important people." He went over to the two girls and dragged them over.

"Mama, Papa, zis is Rogue and Kitty. Mein girlfriend and mein foster sister." He grinned and nudged Rogue forward. "Long story short, I found out who mein birth mozzer vas, and it turned out she adopted Rogue when she vas little, so zat's how ve're related. Another zing is zat, uh, our mozzer is not ze nicest person in ze vorld, but zat's a story for later."

Anna smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around the girl who, to some extent, was her daughter now. "Velcome to ze family, hon." Arnold saw tears gather in the girl's eyes. He grinned broadly and wrapped the girl in a tight hug.

"Velcome mein dear." She smiled back at him.

Next up was the short brunette girl who was smiling a tad nervously. Anna smiled and hugged her tightly feeling the girl tense for a second before hugging her back. She pulled back and kissed the girl's forehead, smiling happily.

Arnold grinned goofily, "Vell, I never sought mein boy vould be friends vith such a beautiful young girl." Falling easily into the mind frame of a father teasing his teenage son.

Kitty blushed and Kurt playfully cuffed Arnold's shoulder, "Don't scare her Dad."

Arnold wanted to laugh exuberantly at hearing his son call him 'Dad'. Instead, he just chuckled and messed up Kurt's hair, "Son, if you couldn't scare her, who could?" The blue boy laughed freely and his always-troublesome tail wrapped itself around Kitty's waist, bringing her close to him.

Anna smiled knowingly; ~_He's in love with her. ~_

"Well, Anna, Arnold? Would you like to come back with us to the states? Even for a short visit, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, you three _do_ have school on Monday; a PD weekend only lasts so long." Kurt grinned and looked up at the two older Wagners, his eyes bright with hope and longing.

Arnold smiled happily, "Ve vould love to." With Kurt and Kitty's help, they were packed within a few minutes and headed down through town and to the jet the students had arrived in. A gruff looking man, who Kurt had told them was actually Rogue's adoptive father Logan, greeted them. Kurt had actually explained everything to them, telling them where he'd been living the last year or so and what had happened to him in the past ten years.

The Wagners sat at the back of the plane, never taking their eyes off each other; Anna had never felt so happy in her entire life. It turned out they were still in tune with their son, just as they had been when he was a child, as they could see the tell-tale signs of him about to fall asleep.

Arnold, using the strength he'd gotten from lugging trees around for a large fraction of his life, lifted Kurt and set him in a laying position across the seats with his head on Anna's lap. The boy smiled up at the two of them before nuzzling his face into his mother's skirt. Anna stroked his hair and fur lovingly for the rest of the trip, even throughout their conversation with Kitty. The girl's words lifted their spirits and also choked up the both of them. The two really were close.

Meeting the rest of the X Men was an interesting experience, and one that warmed their hearts as well. Kurt had been with these people for some time and they were all so close as was proven when they were all very pleased to meet them.

oOo

Lying in the guest room they'd been given later that night, they slept peacefully for the first time in years, with the knowledge that when they woke up, they would see their son.

Apparently, though, fate had other plans as when Anna was woken by a sound in the middle of the night. Blinking owlishly she looked around the room, her gaze stopping on a pair of glowing, gold eyes in the corner.

She smiled, "Now, what are you doing up so late, darling."

The eyes blinked in surprise, before Kurt walked into the moonlight coming through the window, "You aren't scared?"

Anna shook her head and sat up, her legs over the side of the bed and her arms open. Kurt grinned and walked over; sitting next to his mother and letting her wrap his arms around him.

"I love you, Mom."

She smiled and kissed his head, "I love you too Kurt."

He sighed, "Can I stay here?" he looked up hopefully.

"Now, since when have we turned you away?" Arnold grinned crookedly, revealing that he was awake. "Besides, this bed is so big it could fit us all, four times over."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "It's not _that_ big Dad." He climbed into the center of the bed and into his father's waiting arms. "Remind me to show you my bedroom tomorrow, I forgot to today." He yawned and buried himself in his father's embrace.

Anna lay down next to them, joining the family embrace. "Good night, everyone." Arnold whispered.

"Night." Mother and son replied for the first time in a decade.

oOo

When Anna woke up, she was confused for a moment as to where she was, but when she felt something soft brush against her bare arms, she remembered everything that had happened the day before. She took in the sight of her husband and son sleeping side by side, Kurt's blue fur contrasting greatly between Arnold's pale skin.

Kurt's eyes blinked open, the gold reflecting the rays of Sun that were slowly creeping through the window. "Good morning, Mom."

She smiled at him, "Good morning, Kurt." Good God it felt good to say that.

"Do you want to go downstairs?" he sat up, being careful not to jostle his dad.

Anna nodded, "That sounds good."

Together, they headed downstairs, both silent as shadow. Entering the kitchen, Anna looked around the space she'd only seen briefly the other day.

"What do you think of the mansion so far?"

Anna smiled and sat at the table as Kurt grabbed juice from the fridge and glasses from the cupboard. "I think it's absolutely beautiful, and you seem quite at home here."

Kurt grinned, "I love it here, everyone's become like family. Logan like a second father, Ororo like a second mother," Anna smiled, she had taken a liking to the African woman, "the Professor is like a grandfather to me, I have found a sister in Rogue, a brother in Evan and…"

"Love in Kitty."

Kurt blushed, his cheeks turning slightly purple. "Yeah, a guess so." He grinned.

"Your fangs are longer, I always knew they'd turn out like that." Kurt shuffled nervously, "Honey, no need to feel embarrassed, I _am_ your mother after all." Kurt smiled and poured glasses of orange juice for the two of them. He gave her the drink and sat next to her.

The two chatted over their drinks for a little while as the Sun slowly rose. Afterwards, they both headed upstairs towards Kurt's room. He opened the door ad bowed to let her pass. Anna rolled her eyes and walked in, not turning on the light, as the Sun coming in through the French doors out to the balcony was enough to see quite well by.

She looked around the large room, it had a vaulted ceiling and she had a feeling that Kurt hung from the chandelier from time to time. She spotted different novels on the dresser, a cross hung above the bed and textbooks were scattered across the desk. A framed photo of he and Kitty was on the bedside table, a picture of him, Rogue, Evan and Kitty hung near the cross while a group photo of all the X Men, including the adults and Professor Xavier hung on the opposite wall.

"I like it." She smiled at her son who grinned back before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke, reappearing hanging from the chandelier above her.

Kurt grinned, "A couple years ago, I came into the ability to teleport. Sorry I forgot to explain that yesterday." He shook his head, "I tell you about Kitty's phasing, Evan's spikes, Rogue's skin, Logan's healing and claws, but I don't tell you about my teleporting…what is wrong with me?" he mumbled, flipping to the ground and landing in front of his mother.

A knocking suddenly made itself known at the door, "Come in!" he called in English.

Kitty phased through the door, a smile on her face when she saw Kurt's mom. "Good morning, Mrs. Vagner." She used the German pronunciation for Kurt's last name as he'd taught her.

"Guten Morgen, Keety." She walked over and Kurt greeted her with a hug and light kiss, smirking when he saw she was wrapped up in a baggy, long sleeved shirt of his.

"Must you always steal mein clothes, Katzchen?" he questioned and Anna had to stifle a laugh, they certainly were an item, weren't they?

oOo

Logan:

I had raised her best I could. I taught her how to take of herself, I put her in school. I even taught her how to fight to some degree. Even though, she wasn't mine by blood, and we could barely touch, she was still my little girl, my angel.

_Marie Diane Logan or Rogue as she was also called. Diane after a woman that I remember from before that bloody lab; I recall that she had been like a sister to me and I find it fitting that I would give my kid her name. _

_Dear Lord, I never thought, in all my life, that I would become a father, in any way possible. But Marie is mine, she's calls me Dad, and I call her my daughter, she bears my name, and even my personality to some extent. _

_My little girl. _

_Hah, if anyone who'd known me before I met Marie, if they could see me now; they'd say I'd gone soft. In reality, I've just found what I've been missing all these years. _

_I've had good friends, like Captain America himself. (I hope he wakes up soon, I want him to meet Rogue.) But throughout my entire life, I've never had someone who was such a constant in my life, that I had to see them; or hear from them, just to make my day complete. I raised that kid, and I'm damn proud of how she turned out. _

Logan grinned and put down his pen, journaling had never really been his thing, but he just needed to get his thoughts down. What with everything that had been happening recently, it was rare for anyone to get any peace and quiet.

"DAD!" he looked up sharply as Marie barrelled into the room, tears streaming down her face, but her smile bright as the sun.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he stood up, ready defend her if need be. She just smiled and jumped on him, her _bare_ arms wrapping around his neck.

"Marie?"

"I can touch!" she kissed his cheek. He stared at her, his mind oddly blank before a smile nearly spilt his face. He picked her up by her waist and spun her around, laughing happily.

She laughed with him and the two headed downstairs. In the entryway, Kurt, Kitty and Evan looked up with worried expressions.

"We heard yelling what's…" Evan trailed off as Rogue jumped on him in a tight hug, their bare arms brushing against each other.

Evan was frozen, Rogue was hugging him, _Rogue_ was _hugging him._

Kurt caught on the fastest as he whooped and tackled Marie off of Evan. He hugged her tightly, speaking in rapid German.

Rogue laughed, "I don't speak German, Blue!"

He smiled and shook himself, "You can touch!" he then fell back into German, hugging his sister tightly. Logan shook his head and laughed at the kids' antics.

Kitty pushed her boyfriend off of her roommate and helped her up before hugging her, exclaiming the same things as Kurt, only in English. Ororo ran in only to see the following: Kitty and Rogue jumping up and down, screaming and laughing at the same time; Evan was laughing loudly along with Logan while Kurt was doing flips and jumps around the room, literally bouncing off the walls.

"What on _earth_ is going on in here?" she laughed.

"Aunty O! Marie can touch!" Evan grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the happy group.

Logan smiled as everyone fawned over his daughter and her new found success. ~_Thank you, God, thank you for giving her to me. ~_

Logan had never been religious, but at that point he needed someone to thank…maybe he'd been hanging around Kurt too much.

oOo

Ororo:

When my sister died, when the news of the death of my last family member reached me, my world ended, but then, I heard that Evan, my sister's little one year old son was still alive, I jumped on the first plane out of Africa and to New York.

When I knocked on the door, Vivian's husband answered the door, he was so rude and when I told him who I was, he was only ruder. It was only when a baby's cry was heard that he was distracted long enough for me to get past him and run upstairs.

Evan was so small, a little tiny child who'd just lost his mother, and his father didn't seem so concerned about him. I spent an hour with him before his father came upstairs and asked me what I wanted. I didn't actually know what I wanted, so I just said, "Him."

Evan and I were on a plane back to Africa within the next six hours. My little Sun, he has brought so much light to my life.

"Hey, Aunty O, can I talk to you?" Ororo turned from her journal to see Evan standing nervously in the doorway.

"Of course, my Sun. I always have time for you." She stood and moved to sit on the bed, opening her arms in invitation. He walked over and sat by her slowly.

"Well, I've been thinking for a while, and actually I spoke with Kurt and I asked his opinion so I'm just going to ask. Would," he cleared his throat, a quirk he'd picked up from her, actually. "Would it be alright if I called you…Mom, instead of Aunty O? Please?" he looked up at her with pleading eyes. Ororo froze; Mom? He wanted to call her _Mom_?

Ororo nodded, smiling as her eyes filled with happy tears, "Yes, of course you can." He smiled happily and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. ~_I have a son. ~_ Mother and son both cried happy tears.

oOo

A/N: I apologise if this chapter sucked and had a million typos. I have just finished about five hours (not kidding) of homework. My teacher is a sadist...and I'm in a Catholic school.

Here's a question: If it's a Catholic school, why are Satan's minions allowed to teach there?

I apologise for my mini rant, and I could continue to do so, but I won't bore you.

Review and make my sucky day better please!


	29. End Beginnings

Chapter 29: End Beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own the X Men, sadly.

A/N: This is the final chapter of 'Tortured Shadows' and I'm really sad it's over. Thankfully, I have a sequel planned, so look out for 'Eclipsed Sunlight' the second story in my 'Shadows' series.

oOo

Kitty sighed as she watched Marie pack her suitcase; the Professor was giving everyone a week of vacation. Marie and Logan were going back up to Canada, Evan and Ororo were heading back to Africa Jean and Scott were leaving for Hawaii and Kurt was catching a plane back to Germany in a few days. Of course before that, everyone's families would be coming for one night, then taking their respective children and guests back home with them.

Kitty was being left back at the mansion.

She sighed again before phasing down through her bed and into the hall beneath her room. Hugging herself, she started walking down the halls aimlessly.

She could feel the frown on her face, but made no attempts to rid herself of it. She was going to be without her friends and boyfriend for an entire week, she was allowed to be upset.

'Bamf!' "Hey Katzchen, there you are!" she looked up to see Kurt smiling at her happily before he noticed her expression.

"Hey, vhat's vrong?" he tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

She sighed, "It's stupid." She mumbled.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead, "I could never think anything vas stupid if it made you sad Katze."

She blushed at the revelation, but spoke anyway, "I'm just a little sad you guys are all leaving."

She was startled when Kurt chuckled. Kitty looked up to see him struggling to keep his laughter at bay.

Angry, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, "Okay, now how is that funny?" she hissed.

Kurt continued to try and keep his laughter at bay, but found he was unable to and held up one finger because bending over, clutching his stomach and laughing loudly.

Kitty stared incredulously and waited for him to control himself again.

Once he did, he gave her a huge grin, "Keety, that's vhy I vas coming to find you! Mein parents invited you to spend the veek vith us if you vanted!"

Her jaw became loose and Kurt kept explaining, "I told them about your parents in passing, and vhen I told them about the vacation veek, they immediately vondered if I vould ask you to come." He chuckled again, "I'm pretty sure they vant to find different vays to embarrass their now teenage son, but I know they also vant to know more about you. So vhat do you say, vant to come?"

Kitty stared a few seconds longer; Kurt had barely taken a breath throughout the entire explanation.

"Keety?"

"Yes!" she cheered and jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

Kurt laughed and wrapped his arms around her, holding her several inches off the ground.

"Good, cause I already bought the tickets."

oOo

"You excited to go to Hawaii?" Jean nodded to Rogue's question as they cleaned up from dinner.

"Yeah, I've never been for a real vacation, so this is going to be fun!"

Marie smirked and gave the red head a sly look, "Get me a video of Scott wiping out on a surfboard?"

Jean laughed, "Of course!"

oOo

"I hate packing." Evan muttered, glaring at his half full and messily packed suitcase.

Ororo knocked on the doorframe, "Get to work my Sun." she smiled slightly as the word now had two meanings, "Our guests are going to be here soon, and you need to be packed to get dinner."

He turned a glare to his mother and she smiled, "I'll send Logan up in that case."

Evan's eyes widened in panic and he jumped from is seat, sending the rolling chair across the room but not caring as he sped around his room, throwing his belongings into his bag. There was _no way_ he was tempting his mother's boyfriend.

He shuddered, ~_Now there's a scary thought. ~_

oOo

Kurt growled at his suitcase.

"Kurt, yer folks just called, their plane landed a few minutes ago and they're on their way." Rogue poked her head into the room.

"Danke Rogue." Kurt said, still glaring.

Marie looked from the partially closed suitcase on the bed, to Kurt and back again.

"Okay, Ah'll bite, what's goin' on?"

Kurt looked to her, his face now expressionless, "I'll show you."

He went to the suitcase and started to press down on the top while attempting to zip it up with his tail, but the zipper didn't budge. He dropped his hands and tail, stood back and gave Rogue a 'get the point?' look.

Marie bit her lip, "So," she cleared her throat as she held in a laugh, "Ya'll can take down the devil, but ya can't…close yer…suitcase?" she struggled not to laugh.

Kurt grinned, "Yep."

That did it; Marie fell back against the wall and started laughing. Once she'd calmed down, Kurt gave her a small grin.

"You done?"

She nodded, "Yep."

He nodded, "Good, now, are you going to help your poor older brozzer who is unable to best the suitcase of pure evil?"

She rolled her eyes, "Ya, ya, hush up Creature." She strode over to the bed and hopped up onto the suitcase. With a smile, she lifted her legs up and waited for Kurt to zip up his bag with ease.

"Does this mean Ah'm fat?" Marie questioned as Kurt helped her down.

He glared at her, "Say zat again and I hang you from ze rain gutter."

oOo

Everyone sat around the table, plates and glasses full as they waited for the adults to be seated.

Charles smiled at them, "Well, while it hasn't gone _exactly_ as I would have thought…" everyone exchanged looks, Kurt placing a kiss on Kitty's head even as Anna and Arnold gave each other conspiratorial grins.

"I am very proud of you all." The Professor concluded.

Ororo nudged Hank who was on her left and picked up her wine glass. Everyone followed her cue and picked up their own drinks.

"To the Professor." Hank raised his glass and everyone clinked their glasses together, pretending not to notice the few happy tears that fell from their mentor's eyes.

"To the X Men." He smiled as everyone cheered.

"Now let's eat before Fuzzy decides he wants to eat _us_!" Kitty laughed and Kurt gave her a playful glare.

"And people call _me_ dramatic."

oOo

A/N: Finito! It is done! My very _first_ X Men fanfiction _ever_ is over.

I want to thank you guys for sticking with me so long, both reading and reviewing from the first chapter! I hope to see some familiar names for the sequel as well!

And so, for the last time before I push the 'Complete' button:

REVIEW!

Love Shadow


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